


Innerworks

by Prplzorua



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Blood, Character Death, Choo choo! ;), Fever, Gen, It's the angst train guys, Nightmares, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2018-09-21 18:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 135,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9560831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prplzorua/pseuds/Prplzorua
Summary: Because of an "Incident" Anxiety falls ill, Thomas won't speak, Logic is mad, Morality is just trying to be a good dad (they tell the best jokes) and  Prince is trying to figure out what in the world is going on.





	1. Have I a Choice?

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Innerworks - tłumaczenie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11275566) by [TiradaCheo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiradaCheo/pseuds/TiradaCheo)



* * *

It's been a week since the incident.  
  
An entire week, Logic was likely still mad at him. It was only **_one_** week after all.  
  
_A week_ since he left his room, _a week_ since he visited Thomas and _a week_ since he'd slept or eaten anything.  
  
Funny how he was still shaken up about it, maybe Thomas was too, he doubted it though, Logic and the others were working overtime to fix his mistake.

* * *

 

  
_The sound, the screaming and the screeching- **they almost died**_.  
  
The "incident" kept replaying over and over in his mind and as always it was vivid enough to cause him to shake.  
  
Sighing, Anxiety slowly uncurled, letting go of his knees so they could stretch out, bones, joints, muscles and all that popping in relief, he'd been in that position since the incident.  
  
Stuck replaying and reliving the moment, and unfortunately, him being the embodiment of anxiety, he was stuck watching all the ways things could go worse.  
  
He was always made out to be the bad guy, and honestly he'd come to accept that, he knew what he was, the others could say whatever.  
  
He protected Thomas from the worst of things, the things he knew were out there, the things the boy buried in the back of his mind, the things the Anxiety made sure _stayed_ there.  
  
Sure he got a kick out of teasing the boy a bit, but now... the incident-  
  
_There was nothing fun in seeing that much blood, especially **his** blood-  
  
_ Anxiety growled at himself, and uncurled his legs from his chest, this was no time for PTSD, he needed to move and his stomach reminded him why.  
  
Being a personality, hell even being an emotion required some sort of energy or sustenance, if he wanted to describe it, they were practically feeding off their, for lack of a better term, host.  
  
Whatever prominent emotion Thomas was feeling was "summoned" to the forefront, they would provide the necessary ideas or feelings they were supposed to and in return they'd take his energy.  
  
Of course emotions and personalities were two different things, unlike emotions, you can't get rid of a personality.  
  
Change it? _Maybe_ , bury it deep in your mind? _Probably_ , destroy it? _Not gonna happen_ , but weaken it? **_Definitely_**.  
  
Without sufficient energy from the host the personalities tend to weaken, they become ill, so much so they become transparent and if summoned in that state they latch onto their host, take a hold of them and drain them to their grave- or at least that's what Anxiety heard.  
  
Apparently depression was one of those, _go figure_ , feeding off their host wasn't the only thing they could use as an energy source though, all the personalities could drink, eat and sleep.  
  
Technically the drinking and eating were imagined so they were still kinda feeding off Thomas' mental energy, it was probably why humans like him got tired easily.  
  
There were very few humans that were able to physically manifest their personalities as their own personas, much less all the prominent ones at the same time.  
  
Then again there were humans in which their personalities' personas would be all be present in their own right but couldn't be physically manifested, they could only take over the host in a "partial manifestation".  
  
Multiple personality disorder it was called, when he first heard it Anxiety scoffed, of course society would call it a disorder, humans able to manifest their pure thoughts into beings, _Nope! You got a disorder!_ **Thanks society** _.  
_  
There were other people too, these were the people who could see the manifestations and even the incomplete manifestations aswell, (though they were few and far between), their personalities had no persona but they were able to see and even interact with a manifested personality.  
  
These "viewers" were the select few who could actually see Thomas' videos, Anxiety had noticed it himself once, when reading the hate comments on YouTube, not everyone can see them.  
  
"Why is the camera panning around when there was only him there?" Or "nobody's there, is he crazy?" He almost laughed when reading them, these poor "normals" were missing out on good content.

Speaking of missing content, Thomas probably wasn't going to be making videos anytime soon, not after the incident.  
  
There was no way a week was enough, not after what happened, he hadn't seen his host since after the incident, he left, straight into the mindscape, hiding away, both he and Thomas probably had the worst anxiety attack of their lives that day and both were alone to suffer through it - actually no, Logic had come out to help calm the kid down and of course after that hour he came to yell at the one responsible.  
  
Anxiety could still here Logic's angry words ringing in his ears, he had always hated shouting, but never had he hated it more than when it was directed at him.  
  
He had two attacks that day and one every other day since and- _oh would you look at that, guess who was curled up again with stinging eyes and a lump in his throat?_  
  
Swallowing thickly, the personality stretched himself out once more and slowly sat up, he had wasted about twenty minutes just lying in bed, with his thoughts straying from the incident, to feeding, to types of humans and then right back to the incident, god he hated his train of thought.  
  
After another five minutes of wasting time thinking about _how_ he was wasting time by thinking, Anxiety finally, albeit shakily, stood up.  
  
The second he did though, his vision swam, taking a moment and placing a hand to his head, the personality slowly wall crawled to the kitchen.

* * *

  
  
The kitchen, thankfully was empty.  
  
Anxiety exhaled, his head still spun but he braved through it, he grabbed a red Gatorade from the fridge and a wine glass from the cupboard.  
  
Pouring it halfway, he gladly drank it through before refilling it at the halfway mark and downing it again.  
  
There was just _something_ about drinking Gatorade from a smooth wine glass rather than a hard bulky plastic.  
  
Why didn't he just fill up the wine glass you ask? Well that simply wasn't _refined_ now was it?  
  
Having drank enough to stop his head from spinning, he threw away the two now empty bottles of red Gatorade and set out to wash his wine glass.  
  
The second he turned to place the clean glass to dry, something bumped into him, the glass slipped, there was a crash...  
**_  
And a scream_**

* * *

 

  
It happened so fast, on minute he was happily minding his own business and now he was about to have an attack- _there was so much blood._  
  
Thomas' Inner child or Steven as the other personalities liked to call him, was currently on the floor looking all the more like he wanted to cry.  
  
Anxiety was wide-eyed and shaking, a week ago he almost killed his host-the incident flashed into his mind's eye but for once he was able to ignore it- now he has the embodiment of Thomas' imagination bleeding out on the floor.  
  
It wasn't until the other began to cry that Anxiety snapped out of it, in a fit of pure instinct and utter terror, the darker personality grabbed one of the first-aid kits that Logic had in the top shelf of the kitchen counter.  
  
Grabbing a bowl of water and some paper towels.  
  
"H-hey kid, c-calm down alright?"  
  
It was fairly obvious that the other had some of the wine glass shards in his bare feet, so Anxiety, with shaky hands dipped a piece of the paper towel in the bowl of water and used it to gently wipe off as much blood as he could, reaching into the first aid kit, he pulled out some tweezers and began to remove the glass one by one.  
  
"Steven" for the most part was a good patient, he held his feet still and hardly moved them despite the pain, he did hiss and grunt occasionally though.  
  
Anxiety refused to look up, keeping his eyes on the task at hand, he shakily continued to remove the shards, he didn't want to see those tears stain that pink shirt, he didn't want to see that bright yellow star moist with the salty droplets, so he kept working.  
  
He kept going even though the tweezers were slipping out of his hands, even though he could see the red soaking through his black hoodie, he kept working until he was positive there wasn't a shard left, which meant that he stayed and extra twenty minutes to make sure.  
  
Dipping paper towels in fresh water, he washed the blood off once more, he then grabbed some bandages from the first aid kit and wrapped it around the other's feet.  
  
"T-there, you're all set kid"  
  
He would have wiped a hand across his brow, but both of them were soaked red.  
Of course he was still shaking but Steven just smiled.  
  
"Ok"  
  
And just like that all the blood on the floor and Anxiety's hands and hoodie vanished.  
If he wasn't about to have an attack, the darker personality would have scoffed.  
  
Kids always thought they were losing a lot more blood than they really were, especially when they were in pain, and being the literal embodiment of imagination, if "Steven" thought there was a lot of blood, then **_there was a lot of blood._**  
  
With the all clear given and the blood all gone, Thomas' Inner child left in the opposite direction to play with the two kids that always followed Dad around.  
  
With the other gone Anxiety picked himself off the floor and numbly grabbed a dustpan and broom and began cleaning his mess.  
  
When the kitchen was finally clean, the personality all but ran to his room. Once there he headed straight for his bathroom and began scrubbing his hands.  
  
He had washed them three times in the kitchen but he could swear there was still blood on it.  
  
It reminded him so much of the incident, Inner child looked just like Thomas, (they all did), _all that blood- **they almost died, they almost died, they**_ \- his throat tightened, he couldn't breathe right, it was getting harder and harder to, the walls were closing in and the room began to spin, he wanted to cover his face in his hands, but there was so much blood on them.  
  
He frantically tried washing them off again but when he turned on the faucet instead of water, there was blood.  
  
_The blood.  
  
The screams.  
  
The screeching._  
  
**_BANG!  
  
_** With a yelp he turned off the faucet and high-tailed to his bed, burrowed under his black quilt and sheets he tried to breath.

* * *

 

  
_'And that's another one for this week's anxiety attack counter'_ , thought Anxiety to himself, as he walked into the common area.  
  
It had taken him an hour to marginally calm down, he was still shaking of course, but he needed to get out of his room, he didn't know if he was just imaging it but the shadows that usually resided in his room had taken on a particularly thick viscosity and looked no less than blood dripping down his walls.  
  
Actually, the only way he got out and the reason he was in the commons was because his stomach growled so loudly is shocked him out of his panic state and for a brief second everything looked normal.  
  
Taking the hint, he quickly fled from his room, there was no way in hell he was going back in the kitchen so he decided to munch on whatever snack there were in the common area.  
  
The commons was rather huge, it was the largest place within Thomas’ mind, with the kitchen on the left and the hall, that lead to the personalities' rooms, on the inferior end. There was space for the viewing screen, it was _huge_ , and on this extra plus sized plasma TV they could either see what Thomas was doing or watch one of the movies in his memories.  
  
The screen wad obviously in the forefront but in the center there were four chairs: A blue recliner for Dad, a red massage chair for Logic, a red and gold throne for Prince of course and for him a black single leather couch.  
  
At one point Anxiety was sure everyone had tried out each other’s chairs, when no one was watching of course, _just because_ and he could surmise that they all thought Prince's throne was the most comfortable thing ever.  
  
Each of the chairs were beside each other, though Anxiety never stayed long enough in the commons to talk to any of the others.  
  
On the right side of the room at the far end was the snack table, it was a long table that reach corner to corner of the room, it was always filled up with snacks and junk and the occasional meal, just enough to keep an emotion or even a personality from feeling too drained.  
  
Of course if they _were_ drained already, well that couldn't be helped now could it?  
  
Anxiety grabbed a small plate of chocolate chip cookies and a cup of water from the snack table. There were no meals today, so he simply settled for sweets, he made sure that the cup he grabbed was plastic, he didn't mind purple so he went with that one instead of the green one.  
  
With his plate of cookies and water he settled down in his couch and ate them, after he was full enough, Anxiety turned on the viewing screen, there  he could see that the other three were with Thomas- he had only eaten half the cookies on his plate before losing his appetite due to guilt.  
  
Sighing he took back his untouched cookies and drank the water.  
  
His head had been spinning since he came out of his room, he had pushed through, but the wave of vertigo was hitting him _hard_.  
  
Ignoring it, he focused on what was going on outside, he had to squint a bit since his focus kept following the spinning walls.  
  
"Ok so there's Dad, L-logic, where's Pri-? Oh never mind there he is"  
  
Anxiety kept his eye on Prince, the fanciful personality was singing a Disney song to cheer up Thomas, the darker personality sighed, hadn't seen his host since the incident, at least he was looking better or at least he thought he did.  
  
It was hard to tell, there were dark spots in his spinning vision and breathing was becoming a lot harder than he thought it should be.  
  
Yet he continued to ignore it, he was comfortable in the way he curled up and the other three were laughing about- _what was it?_ He couldn't hear anything and his vision was officially to blurry to see anything more than fuzzy pictures of the others and Thomas.  
  
He refused to go back in his room, not until he heard Thomas say something, his host was utterly quiet the whole time the others were there, Anxiety wouldn't leave until he knew the boy was alright, he wouldn't leave until Thomas spoke.  
  
He didn't leave even when breathing hurt, he didn't leave when his vision blurred and swam in all directions, he didn't leave even as his body slumped down without his control.  
  
"H-have you guys seen Anxiety?” asked Thomas gently from his living room.  
  
**Anxiety didn't leave.  
**

* * *

  
  
"I'm telling you that's what Logic said!"  
  
"I heard you Morality, but we don't know his side of the story and Thomas won't speak without him-"  
  
"Look I know you two bonded over Disney, but don't you think it makes sense? What if he-"  
  
"That's why we're coming to get him, we're going to find out exactly what happened that week-"  
  
"We haven’t seen him in a week, I'm actually kind of worried-"  
  
"You worry too much, he's fine, he's probably asleep in-", Prince paused.  
  
"In the commons", finished Dad.  
  
They both stopped to see anxiety curled up on his leather couch.  
  
"Well you were right about him being asleep"  
  
Prince frowned, this was one of only two time he had seen the darker personality in the commons, Anxiety stayed in his room, _so why was he here?  
  
_ "Should I wake him?” he asked quietly.  
  
"I don't know, I doubt that he'd be happy if you woke him Prince"  
  
"True, but he might be worse if we don't wake him and he finds out he fell asleep out here instead of his room"  
  
Morality shrugged as Prince moved over to wake his opposite.  
  
"Anxiety, Anxiety wake up", he shook the other gently, but the darker personality didn't so much as budge.  
  
Frowning Prince tried again, there was no way Anxiety could be such a heavy sleeper.  
  
"Anxiety, Anx-", Prince had decided to tap Anxiety's cheeks in order to wake him, but  he quickly pulled his hand away, wide eyed and worried.  
  
Morality noticed and instantly queried.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
Prince placed a hand on Anxiety's forehead.  
  
"He's burning up, he's burning up _bad_ "  
  
Morality blinked, before placing his hand on Anxiety's forehead.  
  
When he pulled away he gave Prince a look, " take him to his room, I'll bring an ice pack, rags and cold water"  
  
Morality was in Dad mode, Prince didn't argue, nothing was scarier than a worried parent, without a word the fanciful personality scooped up the other, Anxiety weighed almost nothing.

* * *

 

  
When Prince reached Anxiety's room, he arranged the limp body in his arms a bit so he could open the door, having never been inside before, he gaped.  
  
The room was rather neat, dark but neat, ranging from light greys and pitch black to dark greys and faded ebony. The lighting was low but manageable, and with him wearing white, he was the brightest thing in the room.  
  
Prince pulled the thick black quilt back and moved to place his "cargo" onto the bed, but it seemed like the unconscious personality had other ideas, Anxiety gripped firmly onto him.  
  
As much as he wanted to pry his opposite off, Prince took one good look and realized that Anxiety was shaking, his breathing was laboured and his skin was clammy.  
  
Sighing, Prince ignored every part of him that said not to and laid down with the other in bed, well he didn't actually lay down, he was sitting up using the pillows as back brace, while Anxiety stayed firmly clutching onto his chest.  
  
Morality came in with the ice pack and wet cloths not a beat later.  
  
"What are we going to do?"  
  
"Stay with him I guess, he won't let you go after all"  
  
"You think-"  
  
"He's the reason Thomas had been feeling... ** _off_**?"  
  
Prince nodded.  
  
"It's possible, Anxiety is a part of him like any of us are, speaking off, I'll go catch those two up on the situation- but first"  
  
Morality disappeared for a few seconds only to come back with a small silver bucket.  
  
"Just in case", he winked.  
  
Prince rolled his eyes.  
  
Morality was going to leave, but he stopped at the doorway, "you are staying with him right?"  
  
Prince gave him an odd look and gestured to the nails digging into his suit.  
  
"Have I a choice?"  
  
Morality thought for a moment before shaking his head with a snicker.  
  
Prince rolled his eyes at the parental personality, he then winced when Anxiety's nails dug roughly against his chest, looking down he sighed, the other was paler than he had ever seen him and he was shaking even more now too.  
  
Sighing he ran a hand through the dark semi sweaty locks, he continued this for a while as it seemed to calm the other down, soon enough Anxiety's grip slackened (by a bit) and his breathing was slowly evening out, the fever remained high, but there was nothing Prince could do about that.  
  
He continued to run his hand through Anxiety's hair.  
  
"What happened to you?" He questioned.  
  
"Thomas won't tell us anything without you, Logic is angry and Morality jumps on his side without a thought", he sighed again, "I need to hear your side of the story before I can judge, what in the world happened last week?"

 

* * *

 

**  
AN:// Hi guys, so what do you think? Should I continue?  
  
**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Sick

* * *

 

"He's sick?"  
  
Morality nodded, Logic scoffed.  
  
The teacher like personality was still very peeved at Anxiety, last week had to be Thomas' worst attack yet, the boy almost needed to go to the hospital because of it!  
  
No Logic wasn't quite ready to forgive the other, like always, he had gone too far and him being _sick_? Likely and excuse to keep avoiding Thomas.  
  
After all, he didn't so much as check to see if his host was alright, he was **_obviously_** guilty, it was probably the reason Thomas wouldn't speak about the "incident".  
  
Thomas himself was reeling.  
  
"Anxiety's sick?” he repeated.  
  
Morality nodded again, "kiddo has a bad fever, Prince is staying with him"  
  
"Did he tell you what caused it?"  
  
Dad shook his head, "I wish he could, he was unconscious when we found him.  
  
Thomas swallowed thickly, Anxiety was sick, _was it his fault? Was it because of the incident?_ Things went too far and too fast, they ** _-they nearly died that day_**. Sure he didn't really like the guy, but deep down he knew that Anxiety only wanted to protect him, just like any of the others, _just like that day_.  
  
"Thomas? Thomas are you alright?"  
  
Logic's concerned voice snapped him away from **_that_** train of thought.  
  
"Yeah, we can't have both of you falling sick on us, now can we?" Morality chuckled, but Thomas could hear the emptiness behind it.  
  
He knew the parental personality was worried, it was quite obvious, but the boy said nothing, Morality was doing his best to lighten the mood, too bad it didn't work.

 

* * *

 

Anxiety tossed his head gently against his pillow, he grunted once or twice before waking with a near silent gasp. The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes, was **_red_**.  
  
Instantly his mind went into panic, he was still there, his forehead was cold and he couldn't see past the blurry red, he could only guess that it was blood, _Thomas' blood_ , his head was spinning, his vision was spotted and whatever he had eaten was threatening to come back up.  
  
Groaning slightly Anxiety tried to lift his head up, obviously Thomas was still alive, a personality couldn't live without their host after all, but he needed to see how much damage his mistake caused.  
  
He was sure it would be one that would scar him forever.

 

* * *

 

  
"I think he's faking it-"  
  
It had been a couple hours since Morality gave Thomas and Logic the news.  
  
Thomas was long gone, mumbling something about being tired as he trudged upstairs, leaving two personalities in the living room, that was around 1:00pm, it was 3:43 now.  
  
"Really Logic? Thomas has splendid acting ability and by default so do all of us, but I highly doubt that Anxiety is _that_ good of an actor".

Morality rolled his eyes at the other personality.

Logic opened his mouth to argue but Dad cut him off before he could speak, "he's sick and it's worrying me, you've heard the stories of **_those_** personalities"  
  
This time Logic rolled his eyes, "come on Morality it's been a week, there's no way he's fading, and besides those are just stories they tell personalities and emotions to keep them relevant and under control"  
  
"But Depression-"  
  
"Is a disease, a disorder"  
  
"Well the 'normals' call partial manifestation a disorder too"  
  
"MPD is such an ugly thing to call the 'partials', majority of them are wonderful, as are their personalities, and the 'viewers' tend to be really nice too- wait a minute, we weren't discussing the types of humans Morality-"  
  
"No we weren't, because if we were, you wouldn't have forgotten the most important type of human, Thomas!", Morality chuckled a bit.  
  
Which in turn caused Logic to roll his eyes again but he had a small smile, "Yes, the 'manifestors', just like our Thomas are quite special, but there are very few of them, I've always wondered why there were less of them than-"  
  
"That's because they ignored an emotion or personality and it almost faded so it accidentally killed it's host-"  
  
Logic threw his hands up.  
  
"Oh for the love of- he's **_not_** fading Morality-"  
  
"I know that, all I'm saying is that he's sick and I'm worried about him"  
  
"And I'm saying that he's faking it because he's guilty of whatever he did to Thomas last week-"

"You haven't even seen him yet Lo-"  
  
"And that is exactly my point, I _haven't_ seen him, not for the entire week I was at Thomas' side, and because I haven't seen him, I don't believe he's sick"  
  
The Teacher crossed his arms, the Dad sighed.  
  
"Logic I know that makes sense to you, but it also doesn't make sense either, you haven't seen him, you didn't feel the heat that was coming off his skin, he's pale-"  
  
"It's _Anxiety_ , he's always pale-"  
  
"That's not what I meant! His bags were so dark, I don't even think he's wearing eye shadow-"  
  
Logic sighed, sometimes Morality could be such a- a _parent_ , "what you're describing sounds like a case of insomnia and a high fever-"  
  
"Exactly, it shouldn't be so hi-"  
  
"If it's just a fever why are you so worried?"  
  
"Because...” Morality's head lowered.  
  
Logic raised a brow.  
  
"Because?"  
  
The other looked up.  
  
"Because he was scared"

 

* * *

 

  
He was positive they flipped, and he was pretty sure he was lying in a pool of blood, he slowly, shakily and carefully lifted himself to look at his surroundings.  
  
The second he lifted his head a blue- _thing_ flashed in front of his eyes and he jolted back.  
  
Now with his head up higher, dizzy as all hell but he could see that following the red was... _white_?  
  
There was no way that was Thomas, he ate too messily to wear white, come to think of it, the only person who wore white- he pulled himself into a semi stable sitting position on his knees, and followed the blurry red and white all the way up to brown- was **Prince**.  
  
Frowning Anxiety tried to piece together his muddled mind trying to figure just what exactly was going on.  
  
He thought back, he remembered- _well the blood was hard to forget_. His stomach lurched.  
  
Wait, he didn't eat anything the day of the incident, or any day after, so why? - _It hit him, **it hit him hard**._  
  
Clutching  his head as his memories flashed behind his eyes at blinding speed, he remembered what happened in the kitchen, _there was blood there too_ , how he went to the commons, he remembered the cookies he ate, he remembered waiting for Thomas, but that's all he could remember, _did he pass out?_  
  
His stomach lurched again.

Seeing as how Prince was there, he surmised that the other had brought him in and stayed with him, the blue thing was a cold rag, apparently it had fallen off his forehead and onto the sleeping personality's chest.  
  
Anxiety grimaced, so he had a fever? _Great, just one more thing to add to this crappy week_ \- _oh no wait, the cookies were coming back up._  


 

* * *

 

  
"He was scared of what Morality?"  
  
"I don't know, but I have never seen him like that before-"  
  
Logic gave a sigh of concession to his fellow personality, "fine", he rolled his eyes, "take me to him then".  
  
When Logic and Morality had reached Anxiety's room, the first thing they saw was Anxiety on the floor, _heaving out his existence_ into a small silver bucket, Prince was behind him, holding his bangs and rubbing soothing circles on his back, all while whispering what was no doubt comfort words to the other.

 

* * *

 

  
Not a few minutes prior, Anxiety was on the bed, hand clamped to his mouth, his head was spinning even more, and his stomach was doing flips, he was sure that if didn't have his mouth covered, Prince's white suit, _wouldn't be so white anymore._  
  
Blurry spotted vision somehow locked on to a small silver bucket and Anxiety's entire body seemed to head for it.  
  
He would have fallen face first with how his legs gave out beneath him but Prince caught him in the nick of time and slowly eased him to the ground.  
  
Initially, two hands clamping onto him had caused Anxiety to jump, but Prince easily reassured him.  
  
"Sorry, you were falling", he mumbled out the apology as he brought the silver bucket closer to the darker personality.  
  
Swallowing thickly, Anxiety removed his hand from mouth and spit into the bucket.  
  
" 'ts fine"  
  
It didn't matter that he swallowed, the saliva in his mouth filled right back up and his stomach lurched again.  
  
"It's not, I should not have fallen asleep"  
  
Anxiety groaned as his stomach lurched again.  
  
"Don' worry 'bout 't, 'is not your fau-", **_he heaved._**  
  
Prince was trying to comprehend the other's slurred words, when the sound and acrid smell of retching filled the air.  
  
Wincing, he moved behind Anxiety, pushing back his sweat soaked bangs with one hand and rubbing circles on his back with the other.  
  
"It's alright, you're going to be just fine"  
  
After about five minutes and three more for dry heaving, Anxiety's stomach finally let him be.  
  
He slumped, leaning on Prince for support, far too exhausted to hold himself.  
  
"Here"  
  
The two jumped, neither had noticed Dad appear, he gave Anxiety a bottle of water and Prince some paper towels.  
  
Anxiety rinsed the taste of bile from his mouth, spitting it into the bucket while Prince was wiping the sweat off his face.  
  
Once finished, Morality took the bucket away and ruffled his hair.  
  
"You should go back to bed kiddo"  
  
Anxiety, who was now almost completely leaning on his opposite, tiredly nodded and slowly began to rise.  
  
Prince made sure to help him but when Anxiety tripped, on the sheet perhaps, he ended up pulling both of them down on the bed.  
  
The fanciful personality huffed, _looks like he'd be playing pillow for a while longer_ , moving a bit, the royal boy positioned them back to how they were before.  
  
Anxiety couldn't complain, Prince made a rather comfy pillow, but he still felt bad.  
  
" Srry Princey"  
  
He had said it so lowly that even though he was right there, Prince almost missed it.  
  
"It's fine, how did you- Anxiety? _Of course_ ", sighed Prince, the darker personality had passed out once more.

 

* * *

 

  
Logic had been standing at the doorway the whole while but neither of the boys noticed.  
  
He almost felt guilty for being so harsh on his fellow personality, _almost_ , he always crossed the line at Thomas.  
  
He stared at the two on the bed, watching how Anxiety clutched tightly onto the chest he was laying on and how Prince just calmly began treading his fingers through his hair until his grip slackened.  
  
He didn't register when Morality returned back to his side, after having brought back a now washed and clean bucket.  
  
As he was still observing the two, Logic couldn't help but mutter under his breath.  
  
"So he really _is_ Sick".

 

* * *

 

**AN//: Thank you guys so much, i was a bit nervous with how the first chapter went but you guys made me feel a lot better with all your positive feed back .^_^.**

**I'm definatley continuing this, and i'm working on the next chapter right now ;)**

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Energy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personalities need energy to function, what happens when they don't have enough?

* * *

 

When Anxiety woke, the first thing he noticed was that the warm comfortable feeling was gone.  
  
Well he wasn't awake per say, his eyes were closed and his mind was still muddled, heavy with fever and the need to simply sleep till the Oblivion.  
  
All he knew was that the nice warmth he was holding onto was gone and he wanted it back, he didn't know what it was, _it_ was just warm and soft and nice and he wanted it.  
  
 ** _Or them._  
**  
 _What?  
  
What **'them**?'_  
  
  
Brown brows furrowed over closed eyes.  
  
  
 _There was no **them**_ , _that would mean that the warm thing was a person.  
  
When last did he even allow personal contact?  
  
_ **Hands grabbing hands, blood, screaming, screetching** \- _right, Thomas and the incident._  
  
  
The brows knitted further together in confusion.

  
  
_There was Logic **\- YELLING AT HIM** \- no, n-not there, he needed to move his train of thought elsewhere, Logic was right but he couldn't deal with that right now, not when he had to hunt for the warm.  
  
Dad had ruffled his hair, no it wasn't him and wasn't he practically throwing up his stomach when that happened?  
  
Oh wait no, that was afterwards, the person with him-  
  
_

  
Two brown bleary eyes opened from beneath furrowed brows.

  
  
"Princey?" Anxiety gritted out, voice cracking and laced with exhaustion, placing a hand to his head, he winced visibly at the sudden migraine that throbbed between his eyes.  
  
Prince was who he was looking for, Prince was that _warmth_ , he didn't know why and he'd chalk it up to the fever, but he wanted Prince back.  
  
"Prince isn't here"  
  
Anxiety jumped at the voice.  
  
Slowly the sick personality moved his eyes to the sound, there he saw a blurry figure, sitting on a wooden chair reading a book.  
  
"He's helping Morality and Thomas right now", the figure came closer.  
  
Anxiety squinted, his vision was blurry, even more so than yesterday, on the brightside though his head wasn't spinning and his stomach wasn't trying to heave itself out of his body.  
  
"Log-ic?"  
  
Both winced at the crack in the middle of the name, hoarse and rough, there was no doubt that Anxiety's throat was raw.  
  
Of course it would be illogical to mention that as it was obvious.  
  
"Last time I checked, that would be my name- sans the break in the middle of course, how are you feeling?"  
  
The question wasn't asked with concern, it was more tinged with obligation than anything else.   
  
Anxiety could sense this, and in here and now, he had absolutely no way of defending himself if Logic should snap at him, hell, he could hardly move his head, much less his body.  
  
He didn't answer the other, instead he groaned, squeezed his eyes closed and curled in a bit, apprehension rising.

 

* * *

  
  
Logic rolled his eyes at the non-answer, of course the younger personality wasn't feeling well, he sighed, he was never good when it came to being sick, fevers made it hard for the brain to function and it was hard for him to tell what was going on, he sighed once more, this time it was with more aggression towards himself than the last one.  
  
 _He sighed twice, **twice** , he was angry, he was going to yell again,_ Anxiety's heart rate was picking up, he needed to calm down, his pulse was racing, _Logic wouldn't do it again would he?_   
  
He could take a beating, he could take that kind of scarring, those could be covered, but words? Those hurt the most, they ring in your ears at anytime of the day especially when you least expect it.   
  
He always read, 'the Pen is mightier than the Sword' and more than anyone he knew how words affected people, after all it was his _job_ to remember all those time someone said something mean to Thomas.  
  
"You're not funny", cried a little brown girl with sand in her braid, it's not funny when your jokes hurt people!"  
  
He had repeated this memory over and over till the six year old lived by it, now a days if his pranks ever hurt or could affect someone negatively, Thomas instantly felt bad. The pizza man was a good example.  
  


Logic was getting concerned, Anxiety had curled in on himself a bit with his eyes squeezed shut, his breathing became rapid, he was worried that the younger personality was in pain but before he could do anything to help the other, he just _calmed_.  
  
His breathing became so slow and shallow that the intellectual personality wondered if Anxiety was even breathing, eyes that were squeezed shut not a moment ago, slowly fluttered open in a milky blank glaze.  
  
Logic swallowed thickly, Anxiety was starring right at him but he could tell that the darker personality couldn't see him. His eyes were locked on to his own bespectacled ones but his gaze was far off and unblinking, _did he just go into shock?_  
  
"Anxiety?"  
  
The boy on the bed jolted, blinking back into reality.  
  
He was daydreaming, really it was more like a nightmare, to escape the present situation, he'd always move to the past, for every mistake he made he'd go back to one that happened years ago, one that was still bad but less than the one occurring at present times, it's exactly why Thomas could never forget something "bad" he had done.  
  
If he couldn't escape it by thinking back, he'd relive the mistake **_over and over and-  
_**  
"You're gonna yell at me again aren't you?"  
  
The sentence slipped out of his mouth without his consent, Logic was already out of his chair.

 

* * *

  
  
Logic had no idea what to do, Anxiety had snapped back from whatever it is that happened only to stare straight at him. He had asked the question with so much _fear_? and over all morbity that it caused goosebumps to break out on his skin, he had never heard Anxiety sound so scared? _Was he scared?_ It was hard to tell, he didn't move from his curled position but he said it in monotone, face vacant except for his eyes, they seemed to expect the answer to be 'yes'.  
  
 _Yell? When had he yelled at_ \- _oh no, the " **incident** "._  
  
He remembered being so mad at the other but he didn't remember what he said, he felt bad now, yesterday he had heard Thomas mumbling in his sleep about how they almost died, he had been so caught up in the fact that Anxiety had caused Thomas' panic, that he neglected Anxiety's own.  
  
Thinking back, Anxiety looked terrified that day, every word he had said caused the other to shrink back against the kitchen sink, the worst part was that Anxiety didn't even defend himself, he simply took the words and went into his room.   
  
How stupid was he? No one liked being yelled at, especially people with anxiety, **_especially Anxiety.  
_**  
Logic stood up, Anxiety's forehead was covered in thin sheen of sweat, the younger personality still had quite a fever, he moved closer to the other, only to freeze in place.  
  


 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety's heart rate spiked, his throat closed and he couldn't breathe, _Logic was coming closer, was he going to yell at him? Or was he actually mad enough to hit him?_ Either way he didn't find out, his body, whether out of self-preservation or lack of Oxygen... **shut down.**  
  
The Teacher coming towards him was the last thing he saw before everything faded into black.  
  
Logic jumped back startled as Anxiety's body seized and his eyes rolled back.  
  


 

* * *

  
  
When Anxiety woke, the first thing he noticed was that he was warm and comfortable.  
  
Opening bleary eyes, he realized that he was currently laying on Prince's chest, the other personality was asleep.  
  
Anxiety slowly sat up, he tried to discern if he was dreaming or if what happened before had been a dream.   
  
His mind was still very much muddled by the fever and his exhaustion was also present, really all he wanted to do was sleep untill the next century, but his head wasn't pounding anymore so he'd take that as a win.  
  
"Oh ***yawn*** you're up"  
  
"I would say the same to you Princey, but then I'd be lying"  
  
"Geez, some good ***yawn*** morning", mumbled Prince as he sat up rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Morning? It's like 6pm"  
  
"Something ***yawn*** like that"  
  
"No, it is 6 in the evening"  
  
"And how ***yawn*** \- _excuse me_ \- would you know?"  
  
"It's my room", shrugged Anxiety, "I can tell the time by the shadows in here"  
  
"Really?" Prince's eyes widened, sleepiness temporarily forgotten.   
  


"No, there's a clock on the far corner of the wall"  
  
 ** _Sleepiness returned.  
_**  
Prince rolled his eyes before rubbing the sleepily.  
  
"Diabolical"  
  
Anxiety chuckled.

 

Prince yawned again.  
  
"Why are you so tired?"  
  
"I was with Thomas and Morality all day, we were..."  
  
Anxiety tuned him out, with wide eyes he realized, Logic _was_ actually there.  
  
"So it wasn't a dream", he mumbled dazedly.  
  
"....got him to write some ideas for future videos- what? What dream?"  
  
"...Logic..."  
  
"Oh right, with both me and Morality outside, we needed someone to watch over you"  
  
"...hnn..."  
  
Prince frowned, Anxiety had this blank look on his face, like he wasn't there.  
Carefully he reached up and put a hand to the fevered boy's forehead.  
  
Anxiety of course jumped a bit.  
  
"You know you scared Logic that way right?"  
  
"What?"  
  
 _When did he ever scare Logic?  
_  
"He said you went into shock?"  
  
Anxiety blinked, _shock? Was that what it was? He knew he blacked out, he was sure of that, but shock? Really?  
_  
"Really?"  
  
Prince nodded.  
  
"He said your eyes rolled back and everything"  
  
Anxiety blinked, surprised, _well that's something_.  
  
"Huh"  
  
Prince rolled his eyes before yawning, of course Anxiety would be nonchalant about something like that.  
  
There was a silence for a bit, except for the soft splashing of water that was caused by Prince wringing out the cold cloth.  
  
He handed the cloth to Anxiety with another yawn.  
  
"Hey Princey, I know you're tired but can you stop yawning, this about th-the ***yawn*** fifth time, and you're getting con ***yawn*** tagious", grumbled the darker personality.  
  
Prince chuckled tiredly.  
  
"Sorry, 'tws a busy day with Thomas"  
  
Anxiety watched him carefully for a moment, his princely features were long and drawn with fatigue.   
Hell the poor guy looked like he was going to nod off right where he sat.  
  
"You didn't take any of his energy in return, did you?"  
  
Prince simply flopped down on his back and gave the other a look.  
  
"..."   
  
Anxiety's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but of course this was Prince he was talking to, sick or not, he'd be snarky.  
  
"You _didn't_ , Princey, you do know-"  
  
"Yes, yes I know, "he waved a hand of dismissal, " ***yawn*** I know what happens to personalities that give and don't take-"  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes, conceding to the fact that the other was much too tired to play their usual game of witty/snarky quips. Come to think of it, _he was tired too_.  
  
"Jus' don't burn yourself out, we can't ***yawn*** have both of us sick"  
  
With that he flopped down beside the other.  
  
"Come're", mumbled Prince as he reached out to pull Anxiety toward him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I've gotten used to it, you're like a teddy bear"  
  
"Am not"  
  
If Anxiety blushed, neither said anything about it.  
  
"Hmm, but it's easier, I don't want to get kicked in the shins again?"  
  
"What are you talking about Princey?"  
  
"Your nightmares, Tuesday wasn't pretty"  
  
Anxiety swallowed thickly.  
  
"Oh"  
  
"Oh _indeed_ , now come here"  
  
"Fine", with a sigh, Anxiety moved to lay his head on Prince's chest, almost instantly the other's hand came up to play in his hair.  
  
By all means considering his record with contact, he should have jumped, but for some reason he didn't, oh well, it felt nice atleast, with a small content sigh, he let his eyes close.  
  
...  
  
Only to open them back a second later.  
  
"Why do I have a feeling that you’re just doing this to play in my hair?"  
  
Prince chuckled, vibrations from his chest resounding through Anxiety's.  
  
"Because your hair is softer than mine, now go to sleep"  
  
"Whatever you say Princey"

  
  
An hour later Logic and a half awake Morality came to check in on them.  
  
Both Prince and Anxiety were asleep, Anxiety on Prince's chest, while his arm was draped loosely over the darker personality's waist.   
  
Of course Dad took a picture.  
  


 

* * *

  
  


When Prince woke the next day, he felt calm and refreshed, looking down he could see Anxiety sound asleep on his chest.  
  
Carefully, so as not to wake the other, he gently placed a hand on his forehead, Prince frowned, the fever felt much higher than it did before.  
  
Something was wrong, it was going down yesterday.  
  
"Anxiety, hey wake up, something's-"

 

**Anxiety didn't budge.**  
  
Now he was getting really worried, easing himself from under Anxiety and off the bed itself, Prince once again tried to wake the younger personality.  
  
 **Anxiety did not stir.**  
  
After the fifth try, his worry became palpable, blinking back an odd stinging sensation from his eyes, he went to get the other's, they'd know what to do.  
  


 

* * *

  
  
"Prince, Prince, slow down, what do you mean he won't wake up?"  
  
"Remember son, the kiddo's got a fever, waking up'sa slow process"

**  
  
**

_Prince was literally dragging the other two by their arms_.

**  
**  
"I know, but he wouldn't even stir!"

 

“Prince calm down, he’ll be fine!”

 

“You don’t know that!”

 

“Now Princey calm down there son, why are you so riled up?” Morality had managed to get prince to slow his movements.

 

“I think it may be my fault”

 

“Why would you think that Prince?” Logic’s concern faced caused Prince to look down in shame.

 

“I-I think I may have stolen some of his energy”

 

“What?!” Shouted both the Parent and the Teacher.

 

“I was tired, I spent all day yesterday with Thomas, making sure he was happy and motivated-”

 

“You didn’t take any of his energy like you should have, now did you?”

 

Prince shook his head at Logic.

 

“Prince I know you wanted to help Thomas, but draining yourself won’t help anyone”

 

“I know Morality, but he seemed so happy yesterday and-”

 

He was cut off by Logic, “How did you even take Anxiety’s energy, not that he had much in the first place but you two are polar opposites aren’t you?

 

Prince paused for a moment, “I was tired and I was staying with Anxiety yesterday, I don’t know, I must have done it my sleep? All I know is that he won’t wake up”  
  


Morality sighed, it was a worried sigh but no one could blame him, “Let’s go see how he is”

  
When they reached Anxiety's room and peered inside…  
  
 ** _Anxiety was nowhere to be found.  
_** _  
_

* * *

 

 

**AN:// ok so you guys are great, I got such positive feedback for this fic and it made my sick day(s) much better so thank you guys so much •^_^•  
  
A clap and a half to _TheReference_ for kinda guessing what the "incident" was, (and another clap and a half if you know where I got that from lol) it's not completely correct though and I won't tell you which part of your guess was wrong, you'll just have to wait and see what happens or you can keep guessing and I'll tell you how close you are ;)    
  
Another thing, I just incorporated my idea of "types of humans" Because I wanted give the personalities a reason they can be manifested, so here I came up with the four types. Basically manifestors are people like Thomas who show the different personalities, the Veiwers are us, the people who see the personalities (his videos) and the "Normals" are the haters XD no one likes the normals lmao, the Partials are just there cause I needed an intermidiate.  
The types and everything else will be explained in due time, because if I continue this right now I may accidentally give spoilers and this is gonna end up an even longer Author's note XD. **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Summons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stairs hurt like hell man

* * *

 

_Fwip!_

  
  
Psh!

  
  
**BANG!**

 _  
_  
"Gah!.. _hnn_...-what the?!"  
  
  
"Anxiety?"  
  
The personality squinted at him, from his curled position on the stairs.

  
  
"Thomas? _What the hell?"_

 

* * *

  
  
"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to! It's just that everyone was so worried about you and I didn't know what was happening to you a-and I didn't mean to summon you!  
  
Somehow Thomas had managed to summon Anxiety, straight out of his bed and straight onto the stairway, **_hard_**. The sick personality was dragged out with cold cloth, black sheets, pillow and all.  
  
The pillow had landed just a bit above Anxiety's head, while parts of the sheet were splayed out beneath him, the other portions were wrapped around his leg and hip. No part of the sheet covered his face, so his expressions could clearly be seen, _tired, sweaty, sick, and in pain.  
_  
Currently Anxiety was curled up, holding the back of his head and groaning, Thomas winced, there was no way that didn't hurt.  
  
" _Hnn_...yeah well, thanks for the concussion-"  
  
"I'm sorry, let me jus-"  
  
  
" ** _Wait_** -", Anxiety squeezed his eyes shut.  
  
  
Thomas froze on the spot, looking nothing but the epitome of guilty.  
  
"The room's spinning", he groaned, head lying back he tried his best to get comfortable enough, with limited movement, while waiting for the room to stop doing its mimic of the _goddamn washing machine._  
  
The Manifestor sighed silently in relief, Anxiety wasn't mad- well too mad at him, he hoped.

 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety groaned again, usually he wasn't so vocal when it came to pain, he'd hush up and take it, but he was tired, his brain felt heavy and _everything_ freaking hurt.  
  
Thomas was in front of him, this was their first meeting since the incident, not the best of conditions but right now he could care less.  
  
Speaking of, he was sure he dreamt of the incident and Prince had somehow managed to pull him away from the worst part, he was shaken but he just couldn't move, he couldn't open his eyes, his body and mind just felt **_drained_**.  
  
The next thing he knew, his eyes were open and he could move, _into the fetal position_ , yeah, a staircase to the back of the head would do that to you.  
  
He didn't know when Thomas had moved but he came back with a bucket, he barely had time to sit up grab it when his stomach decided to heave the non-existent food within.  
  
Having not eaten anything since yesterday all that came up was thick, acrid bile.

* * *

  
  
Thomas was feeling guiltier and guiltier, Anxiety groaned once more, eyes closed, semi curled and swallowing thickly, he had opened his eyes once or twice but they were blank-no _dazed_ and his dizziness could be seen quite clearly in them.  
  
He jumped when the personality's body jolted a bit, Anxiety groaned again and swallowed, Thomas instantly knew what was going to happen, taking the blue cold cloth from the part of the stairs it had fallen.  
  
The boy ran to the kitchen, rinsing out the cloth and grabbing a bucket from under - _where ever he got it from_ and rushed back, and not a moment too soon either, the second he got there Anxiety sat up, took the bucket and **_heaved_**.  
  
The sounds of gagging and retching caused Thomas to winced again, he hated being sick because it always got this bad, sighing he left, he knew Anxiety wasn't one for contact, so he couldn't do much for comfort.

 

* * *

  
  
After a few good minutes of dry heaving, his stomach finally realized it was empty, groaning he spat into the bucket, the taste of bile was awful.  
  
He then blinked as Thomas appeared with a water bottle, mumbling a small "thanks", he took it and rinsed his mouth, before spitting the water into the bucket.  
  
Thomas moved the bucket into the flat corner way of the stairs so it wouldn't get in the way, groaning again he let his head fall back, his small movement pulled the sheet which in turn pulled the pillow right under his head at that precise second, _ok gravity, a point goes to you_.  
  
  
Sighing into the pillow with his eyes closed, he could feel Thomas placing the cold cloth on his forehead, he opened one eye to look at the boy.

  
  
_**Thomas had a question.**_

* * *

  
  
"Can you go back?"

  
  
"That would require both energy and concentration, two things I **_don't_** have right now"

  
  
"Wait, it takes energy to 'sink down' ?"

  
  
Anxiety sat up slightly and gave him an incredulous look.  
  
"We literally leave the plane of physical existence"

  
  
"Oh, right, I forgot about that", he chuckled, "sometimes I forget how this whole Manifestor thing works"

  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes, "Logic wrote a book about it I think"  
  
He shrugged a bit before laying back on the pillow with his eyes closed, but if you looked closely, there was a small up tilt of his lips, Thomas happened to be just close enough.

  
  
The Manifestor smiled, this was just like how they were before the incident, ever since the whole Disney thing, Anxiety's been rather...pleasant?  
  
Well as pleasant as Anxiety can get at least, he still brought that cold, unnerving, sinking feeling with him but his words had less of a bite.  
  
Words went from "something's going to get you" to "if you don't close that closet door something **will** get you", _it's **Anxiety** what did you expect?_

 __  
  
He was still snarky as usual and downright savage when he wanted to be but he'd been getting along with the other personalities quite well, heck he had even started to get along with Lilly as odd as that would seem.  
  
Being a fellow Manifestor, IISuperwomanII and Thomas were in contact quite a bit, usually Thomas would ask her about her busy day and she'd ask him how they were doing (him and his personalities of course).  
  
As Lilly was the older Manifestor, Thomas would sometimes ask her for advice when it came to his personalities, hence the 'Battling Anxiety' video came out.

  
  
Anxiety and Lilly actually became- well they weren't friends, uh-well _they could tolerate the other for longer than they did before?_ Thomas wasn't really sure.  
  
All he knew was that one day Lilly was watching Anxiety's favorite movie with him and he had pre-ordered her book, but that's a story for a different time.

  
  
Blinking out of his odd trance, Thomas looked to his side, and there was Anxiety, battling with his eye-lids, so far the personality was _losing_.  
  
Thomas winced for probably the third time today, the fever was obviously still plaguing the other and he could practically _feel_ Anxiety's exhaustion.

  
  
"Hey"

  
  
Anxiety opened one bleary eye.  
  
"Hmm?" Mumbled the personality sleepily.

  
  
"Since you can't get back, why don't you just stay on the couch? It's much more comfortable than the stairs"

  
  
Nodding tiredly, Anxiety stood up, albeit shakily, grabbed his pillow and the edge of his sheet. Thomas stood up aswell.  
  
He moved the bucket out of the way, he would have to wash it out as soon as Anxiety was settled, the high smell of bile was starting to get to him.

 

* * *

  
  
Gently Thomas assisted him to the couch, it wasn't a far distance at all, but with the fever and the fact that he was ready to drop, made the mere two-three feet feel like a marathon to Anxiety.  
  
The personality hazily realized that this was the first time since the incident that he had contact with his host, looking down he could see the bandages that were wrapped around his left hand, the poor guy probably couldn't write much less eat properly.  
  
He wanted to feel guilty but he was tired and Thomas had picked that exact moment to look up at him with a reassuring smile, sighing he nodded, slight and jerky, but continued trudging.  
  
They moved ever so slowly, Anxiety with his pillow clutched in his arm and the sheet trailing behind him like a huge ebony cape.  
  
Once at the couch, he threw down the pillow and flopped unceremoniously onto the couch with a _'PAUF'._  
  
Thomas couldn't help but chuckle, after Anxiety found a comfortable position, he then realized that his sheet wasn't covering him, trying and stretching to reach the other end of the sheet without moving from the comfort spot was proving to be rather difficult for the personality.  
  
Finally giving in to the tiny whines that Anxiety probably didn't even know he was making, Thomas reached down and covered the other with the sheet. Seemingly satisfied with the sheet, Anxiety closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.  


"Wish I could fall asleep that fast", murmured Thomas.  


Anxiety opened one eye.

  
  
"Same"

 

* * *

  
  
"He likes it when you play with his hair"

  
  
Thomas jumped at Prince's words, it had been a good hour before Anxiety had finally fallen asleep.  
  
He had been sitting on the handle of the couch, watching a TV sho-well not really, the show was droning on in the background, he was busy worrying about his sick personality.  
  
As a host his personalities were his responsibility and vice versa, the personalities were to protect their host.

  
  
Shrugging at Prince’s random and not-so-subtle suggestion, he gently ran his fingers through Anxiety's hair, it was far softer than his own, _not fair.  
  
_ Anxiety sighed in his sleep and leaned to the touch. Seeing this Thomas smiled and continued, _he'll be alright._

 

* * *

  
  
"You think they'll be ok?"

  
  
"It would seem so Morality"

  
  
"Here's hoping they do", whispered Prince.  
  
  
Logic and Morality were sitting next to each other while he was sitting on the arm of their couch. Their couch was adjacent to the one Thomas and Anxiety were asleep in.  
  
Anxiety woken up for a brief moment and some way or another he ended up on Thomas' lap and both of them had drifted off.

  
  
The other personalities, Morality and Logic popped in right after they had fallen asleep.

  
  
Dad took a picture.

 

* * *

  
**AN:// Aaaay, I actually made it fluffy, hehe just wait till the next update ;)**


	5. A Story for Another Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna see who gets the joke

 

* * *

  
  
"Hey Anxiety, uh what are you doing here?” The Manifestor was both confused and a tad bit apprehensive, “there's literally nothing for me to feel anxious about, I'm not even making a video right now, I was just gonna call a friend then take a nap, so..."  
  
"Geez, a guy can't say 'hi' to his host?"  
  
"Yeah, usually, but when you do it there's always an underlying meaning to it"  
  
"I **_wonder_** why?" The personality smirked.  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes, their bantering was getting better.  
  
"So what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much, the kids were making too much noise, they made up a new game, prank tag I think it's called"  
  
"What?"  
  
Anxiety shrugged, "They're kids, they can make up whatever they want, it'll still be fun"  
  
"Oh? And why didn't you join them then?"  
  
The personality gave his smug and smirking host a look, but then shrugged again, "eh, wasn't invited, plus they look like they’re all having fun, who am I to ruin that?"  
  
"Mhm, you ruin my fun all the time-"  
  
"Yeah, because I can-"  
  
"But-"  
  
"They're kids, the world can and will ruin their fun soon enough"  
  
"Ah-ah, no, no, we are not going there!"  
  
Anxiety chuckled, before looking down at his phone.  
  
"Well look at that, we actually lasted five minutes in a semi decent conversation, kudos to us"  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes, "Oh you're the worst-"  
  
"Thank you~"  
  
The manifestor glared, the personality looked smugly back. This lasted for a few minutes.  
  
It was weirdest starring contest ever, but it was their unspoken game, you couldn't blink nor change your expression.  
  
Don't ask them how it started, 'cause neither of them know, it just happened and afterwards it became a thing, usually right after Anxiety said something too morbid or Thomas said something too cheery.  
  
Of course Thomas laughed and thus lost, but Anxiety chuckled with him, so technically he didn't lose, but he wouldn't tell the other that.  
  
"You never win at that"  
  
The host shrugged, still smiling.  
  
"Just imagine if one of the kids ever challenged you-"  
  
"-I'd probably lose, but question"  
  
The personality looked curiously at the other, it was rare for Thomas to ask him a question, that was usually Logic's shtick.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How many children are just running around in my head?"  
  
Anxiety almost snorted, sometimes he wondered how his host could be so pure and childlike, even when exposed to quite a bit of the world.  
  
***cough*** _pfft_ ***cough***   
  
"eh-em, well there's", he listed off his fingers, "the two kids that follow Dad around, the Sister and the brother, still don't know their names by the way, then obviously your own Inner child, we call him Steven by the way-"  
  
"Because of the shirt?"  
  
"Because of the shirt", agreed the personality with a small nod, "I called him that just  for fun, but everyone else just rolled with it so it stuck"  
  
"So you just randomly give out nicknames?" Smirked Thomas.  
  
Anxiety smirked back, "the nickname 'Princey' stuck now didn't it?"  
  
"Fair enough, go on with the list then"  
  
"Pushy"  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Fine, fine, there's Misleading Compliment-"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah really, he's the oldest of the kids though, 12 or 13 mentally, Pranks is also 12 or 13-"  
  
"Pranks?"  
  
Anxiety smirked.  
  
"His specialty lies in the Disney ones"  
  
"Oh"  
  
"And that's it," he gestured to his fingers, five of 'em"  
  
"Cool-"  
  
"Unless of course you count the personalities, 'cause let's face it, they're as immature as kids sometimes"  
  
"True, my gut instinct wants to say that Morality is the youngest but, he's been around kinda the longest, so Prince?"  
  
Anxiety scratched the back of his head, " _actually_ , Princey's older than me-"  
  
Thomas' eyes widened.  
  
"What? Really? Wait, does that mean you're the youngest?   
  
"Yeah, kinda, Princey's older than me by a few days, then there's Logic and Morality, Logic is younger than Dad, I just don't know how much younger- what?"  
  
"You're the youngest!"  
  
"Yeah and? You're acting like Prince was during your ' I'm on a Disney show video', you're even doing the hand movements"  
  
"Because I just realized something-"  
  
"That your insane?-"  
  
"No, that it goes in order-"  
  
"What?"

"Think about it, the boy is 6-7ish right?"  
  
"About that"  
  
"So it starts off with me a growing boy-"  
  
"And it continues with a girl, his sister is older-"  
  
"Hey I'm in touch with my feminine side-"  
  
Anxiety scoffs.  
  
"Hey which one of us _actually_ uses eyes shadow-".  
  
"...."  
  
"Thought so"

 

* * *

  
  
"...and since both Pranks and Misleading Compliment are about 13, that means-"  
  
"That means?"  
  
"It means, you're that emo teen phase that I never actually had"  
  
Anxiety raised a finger and opened his mouth to disagree- _he then closed it and put his finger back down._ Thomas laughed as the personality huffed and crossed his arms.  
  
"And how do the others fit in this then?"  
  
  
"Well, Prince is the 'after you phase', where I find my freedom and happiness or something like that, Logic is my responsible adulthood-ah don't,  _it will happen someday!_ "  
  
Anxiety put his finger down again, this time he was smirking.  
  
"And then I'll be an awesome dad someday in the future"  
  
"Sure, I feel sorry for the little brats already"  
  
"Hey, Morality's not that bad-"  
  
"Not saying he was, the Oldman's alright sometimes, especially when he remembers what personal space is"  
  
Thomas gave him a look, it somewhere between an "aww" and "you're messing with me aren't you?" Kinda look.  
  
Anxiety shrugged lightly, smirk ever present.  
  
"Which is about 1% of the time"  
  
Thomas groaned, dragging his hand down his face.  
  
"Ugh, ok, you know what? There's Pizza in the fridge, go get a slice or two"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Whenever one of you come out, if it's not to antagonize me-"  
  
"Heh"  
  
"Then it's because you guys either hungry or bored, Pizza's in the fridge"  
  
"Well I  was just bored but- what kind of Pizza?"  
  
"Meat lovers"  
  
Whatever magic words he had whispered Thomas doesn't know, but instantly Anxiety's demeanour changed.  
  
His stance shifted, his arms uncrossed and dropped to his sides, he had that look, the very same look that Thomas had prior.  
  
"You're serious?"  
  
"About the Pizza? Yeah it's right- oh see, I was supposed to call her half an hour ago!"  
  
Thomas picked up his phone and answered it, Anxiety disappeared.  


 

* * *

  
  
"Yeah I did and- wait, no-no nothing's wrong, I just heard something"  
  
Thomas walked from the living room to the kitchen, phone still in hand only to see Anxiety taking out a plate of Pizza from the microwave.  
  
Sitting down he picked up one of the two steaming slices and bit into it with a _small soft moan_.  
  
Thomas couldn't help but chuckle, this is the first time he'd actually seen Anxiety truly smile.  
  
"It's that good?"  
  
The personality jumped, partially choking, he quickly placed a hand in front of his mouth, a bright red blush spreading across his pale face.  
  
**"\Thomas? Thomas are you ok?\"  
**  
Thomas lifted the phone back to his ear.  
  
"Yeah Lilly, nothing's wrong, I just need to buy meat lovers Pizza more often"  
  
**"\Oh you're eating?-\"**  
  
"No, Anxiety  is-"  
  
Said personality's eyes widened, his hand still covering his mouth as he chewed.  
  
"Wai- 's da LIly?"  
  
The manifestor smiled.  
  
"Yeah it is, wanna see?!"  
  
Thomas lifted the phone and pressed something, and boom, Lilly's face could be seen.  
  
Anxiety ducked down, but unfortunately for him, Super woman had spotted him.  
  
**"\Hey gloom and doom, why ya hiddin'? I thought we made a connection that Saturday\"  
**  
From under the edge of the table, Anxiety could practically hear the smirk she had on her face. Rolling his eyes, he swallowed, stood up and walked next to Thomas.  
  
The manifestor looked between the girl on the phone and the guy at his side.  
  
"What happened that Saturday?"

 

* * *

  
  
**"\\...and we sat down and laughed at the absurdity of the whole movie and how stupid it was to walk into the house anyway-\"  
**  
"And after about a good three movies, I asked her about the book that she was obviously advertising ***cough*** _noshame_ ***cough*** she gave me the baseline and I pre-ordered it from my phone-"  
  
**"\that he did and** **_*cough*too-bawse-for-shame*cough*_ \",** she smiled.  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes and Thomas...  
_was confused out of his mind_.  
  
"Wait, when did this all happen?"  
  
"Uh-"  
  
**_"\when my mo- Paramjeet, called you to give you ‘a lil' tip’ about your videos- \”_**

"Yeah, when he came home, he went to his room and cried-"  
  
"Dude-"  
  
"Hey, this is your fault, I was eating Pizza, _and speaking of_ -"  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose.  
  
"Yes, you can go with your Pizza"  
  
"Thank you very much~"  
  
And with that the personality happily slipped off, grabbed his plate and sank down, likely to go to his room, where he could eat his heavenly slices in peace.  
**  
"\wow, he really liked that Pizza\"  
**  
"Yeah, it's second to Cheese but meat lovers is great, don't you think so?"  
  
Lilly gave him a look, and he winced.  
  
"Ooh, sorry, you're a vegetarian, my bad"  
  
**"\it's fine, but back to the matter of hand, how's....\**

 

* * *

 

"Hey Anxiety, bored again?"  
  
Thomas was sitting down on the couch, watching _commercials_?  
  
"How do you know I'm not here to do my job?"

  
  
"Because I met all my deadlines for once, you and Logic made sure of that"

  
  
"Heh, true, so what you up too?"

  
  
"Just chillin', waiting for the next episode of SU to play"

  
  
"Which one is it?"

  
  
"Don't know, I don't think I've seen this one yet-"  
  
**_We- are the Crystal Gems  
_**  
Anxiety sat down instantly, eyes glued to the TV. Thomas snickered silently.

 

* * *

 

  
"He-hello?"  
  
"Sup"  
  
" _Anxiety_? What are you doing here? It's-", Thomas took out his phone, blinking back and squinting a bit from the brightness, once he saw the time he gaped and held out the screen, **_"literally midnight!"_**  
  
The personality looked at the screen lazily from the laying position he was in on the couch.  
  
"Wow, that's on the dot" he paused for a second and then looked to Thomas, the boy was in his PJ's, well it was a baggy T-shirt, some fuzzy pants and socks, the manifestor looked tired but also a little afraid. Anxiety shrugged internally, he had that effect on people, so instead of questioning the other, he simply smirked, "shouldn't you be in bed then Cinderella?"  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes.  
  
"Why are you here Anxiety? I thought we were good all this week and the week prior"  
  
Anxiety raised a brow.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Then? Why..."  
  
"The others were having a movie marathon-"  
  
"Then why didn't _you_ -", Thomas paused, “weren't invited were you?"  
  
"Nope", said the personality popping the 'P'.  "And **_you_** should be in bed"  
  
"Well I was in bed, but with all the noise you were making-"  
  
"Noise? I was just reading-"  
  


**_Thump Thump creeeak_**  


  
Both males jumped and shared a look.  
  
"Move over"  
  
"Y-yeah", complied the personality, he shifted over so Thomas could climb over from the back.  
  
The second the manifestor plopped on to his seat, the thumps and creaking began again. Anxiety quickly turned on the TV and huddled next to his host.  
  
They said nothing to each other, both watching TV and ignoring the sounds, they were just hanging out, definitely not trying to drown out the sound of their impending doom.  
  
No, they weren't afraid of the demigorgon, no not at al-  
  
**_Creeeeaaak_**  
  
They sprinted to Thomas' room.  


 

* * *

  


"You do know they're going to laugh at you right?"  
  
"Kinda the point"  
  
"No they're supposed to laugh _with_ you, not **_at_** you"  
  
Thomas shrugged.  
  
"As long as their happy-"  
  
"You're too nice for your own good"  
  
"Wow, that is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me"

 

Anxiety rolled his eyes at his mocking manifestor, but of course he wouldn't let that jab slide.  
  
"That's not true, I told you this morning that you didn't look as beaten up and tired like you usually are"  
  
This time Thomas rolled his eyes, shaking his head he turned on the camera.  
  
.....  
  
"You know people are going to say some pretty bad things about this one"  
  
"Yeah, probably, but that's the Internet, can't please everybody-"  
  
"Yet you always try"  
  
"Of course", he shrugged, "you never know who's mind you might change"  
  
"Yeah, people can change for the worst too you know"  
  
"Oh stop being so pessimistic"  
  
Anxiety deadpanned.  
  
Thomas posted the video.  
  
The first comment popped up after about five minutes.  
  
**_"This is great!"  
_**  
"See Anxiety", gestured Thomas to the laptop.  
  
"Yeah, yeah"  
  
The personality rolled his eyes, but the minute his host turned to get some water another comment came in.  
  
**_"This was the stupidest thing I've seen"_**

****

Anxiety blocked the person and removed the comment.

 

* * *

  
  
"....bet you it can't"  
  
"Bet you it will"  
  
"Alright what's your wager"  
  
"Uh-um, _ice_ - _cream_! Ice cream from that place down at main street"  
  
"Any flavour for the winner?"  
  
"Any flavour", agreed the manifestor.  
  
"Deal", Anxiety stuck out his hand, Thomas shook it.  


....  
  
"I can't believe it did it"  
  
"Told you it would", Thomas smiled teasingly at the other all while happily eating his ice cream cone.  
  
"Alright, I'll let that go, but why did you buy me ice-cream? I lost?"  
  
"Yeah, but you got a cup, a small one"  
  
Anxiety raised his little ice cream cup and shrugged, "true". Thomas still got him his favourite flavour.  
  
"So do you wanna head back home or go for a drive around"  
  
"As if your back pocket could afford that gas money-"  
  
"Anxiety-"  
  
"I'm not really going to have a choice, am  I?"  
  
" _Mmn_ , it depends-"  
  
"On?"  
  
"If you say no, we head back and work on a new video-"  
  
"Ugh, fine let's go, where are we heading to anyway?" Anxiety threw his hood over his head and buried his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.  
  
Thomas smiled.  
  
"Let's find out"  


 

* * *

 

  
They were in the car- oh he remembered this, this was right before-  
He was dreaming, he was flashing through all these memories-wait, memories? That means-  
  
**_The blearing sound, the screeching and screaming...  
_**

 

* * *

  
Logic was yelling at him for something, he didn't know what, all he knew was that he wanted to get out, and so he did.  
  
He popped up at his usual area, the staircase, and walked around, the house was eerily quiet.  
  
"Thomas?"  
"Thomas?"  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
Anxiety spun around, that tone of voice had him on edge, but what was even worse was how the speaker looked.  
  
"Thomas? What happened?  
  
The manifestor's faced was bleeding, one jagged cut from temple to across his cheek, his left hand was mangled, his shirt torn, glass shards in his hair and eyes-  
  
"Don't pretend that you don't know, don't pretend that this was not your fault", the personality blinked and Thomas had him in his bloody handed grip, he pulled the other by his collar and looked him in the eye," don't pretend you don't remember!"  
  
Anxiety's eyes widened.  
  
**_The blearing sound, the screeching and screaming..._**

 

* * *

 

  
Both Thomas and Anxiety woke with a gasp, a familiar sound replaying in their ears.  
  
Looking to the source they saw, Prince, Morality and Logic, the personalities gave a worried glance at the two, before continuing to watch, what was likely, the news.  
  
It was then they realized exactly why the sound was familiar.  
  
There on the screen was Thomas' little car and behind was an eighteen wheeler, the large vehicle was swerving side to side uncontrollably _and it was moving fast._  
  
The blearing sound of the horn, the screeching of the tires and the screaming of the by standers...  
  
***Honk* *Honk* BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP  
  
_BANG_!**

* * *

  


**AN:// Have I crushed souls yet? If not, there's more ;)**

 


	6. Their Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could he really become one of those?

 

* * *

"Prince, calm down!"

 

"I can't calm down Logic, what if he turned into  ** _one of them!_**  "   
  
"What did I tell you Logic? It's a possibility!"  


"Oh for the love of- Morality he's not fading!"  


Prince suddenly stopped his frantic opening and closing of random mental doors.  
  
As a matter of fact he stopped moving completely, he stood still, rim-rod straight, back turned from the other two, left hand just shy of reaching the knob.  
  
The other two froze as well.  
  
Logic was getting worried about the royal boy, he had been on the verge of, what was no doubt, a mental breakdown.  
  
They had been looking for Anxiety for about.... _an hour_ , he was sure of it, time flies fast when you're looking for a sick and missing Personality.  
  
He refused to believe that the other was fading or _had_ faded, he refused and avidly at that too, there was just no way.  
  
There wasn't enough data on fading personalities in the first place, no one knew how long it took to fade, he doubted a week would be enough.  
  
He doubted that Anxiety would turn into **one of those.**  
  
He doubted.  
  
_Doubt_.  
  
That's what he was feeling.  
  
He was unsure.  
  
He didn't know.  
  
He didn't like that.  
  
He didn't like that he didn't know if a week was enough, he didn't like that there was a possibility of the younger personality actually fading, he didn't like that Anxiety could become _one of those.  
_  
He didn't like it, because...  
  
_Because_ it would be his fault if it happened.

 

* * *

  
  
_"Don't you know that all you do is hurt him?"_  
  
He cut the other off before he began.

  
  
_"No of course you don't, you don't care, you don't care about anything other than yourself!"_  
  
He did it again.

  
  
_"Don't bother answering, you know it's true, you're selfish, stubborn and arrogant, for all the unruly children I've ever had to deal with as a teacher,_ **you** are by far the worst"  


  
The other flinched, he didn't stop.

  
  
_"You are a personality Anxiety, a part of Thomas and yet you play perfectly into the stereotype, you leech off Thomas so much you physically and mentally drain him, a little anxiety is good but what you are is a- is a **plague** , you're supposed to protect our host, but all you do is hurt him, how can you live with yourself? Thomas just cried himself into unconsciousness because of what you did, tell me honestly, do you even care about him at all?!"_

  
  
Anxiety didn’t answer, the darker personality's face was completely hidden by his hood, his pale fists were clenched.  
  
Logic took it as a sign of anger, the teacher was so angry he dismissed the odd thin liquid like tracts as mere reflections or a trick of light on the younger's face.  
  
He stood there seething and red faced in the kitchen, glaring at Anxiety's back as the younger retreated quietly towards his room.  
  
He ignored the drops of liquid on the floor, _mere tricks of light._  
….  
  
They weren't tears then, but now they were. Logic swallowed thickly, guilt flooded through him, he was so angry that day, he said the first thing that came out of his mouth, horrible things that he _knew_ would hurt the other, what kind of person was he?  
  
He didn't even believe that the darker personality was ill, he held a grudge against the other, he didn't care until he saw the sick boy and like an idiot, he approached him.  
  
_"How are you feeling?"  
_  
Stupid, that's what, it's no wonder the kid passed out from shock- no **_fear_** , Anxiety feared him and it's all his fault.  
  
How could he say such mean things and then magically forget that he hurt the other?  
  
How could he have done that, to a _child_ no less? Anxiety may have been with Thomas since he was young but he was the last to become an actual personality, thus the child of the group.  
  
He was supposed to be a Teacher, patient and kind, a guide to even the most unruly, a guide to- to... _he was supposed to help the other_ , Anxiety was the embodiment of Thomas' deepest fears and he just deliberately used those fears against the person who suffered from them the most.  
  
  
If Anxiety really was or had faded, it was because of hi-  
  
"It's my fault"  
  
Logic blinked, Prince was the one who spoke, soft voice and trembling hand, still outstretched, _still_ not touching the knob.

 

* * *

 

Prince sighed shakily, one hand hovering the other running through his now mussed up hair, a thing the Royal would never let happen, a true testimony of his nervousness and unease.

  
  
"It's all my fault, I shouldn't- I shouldn't have fallen asleep, he was sick, I was supposed to be watching him... I-"

  
"Prince, hey calm down, it's not your-"

  
  
"But it is Morality! I- at first it was out of courtesy that I stayed with him the first time, he was sick and it was the right thing to do".

  
  
Prince's voice started to crack a bit and he started to stutter, "but then... with his nightmares... he talks during them... I- I couldn't do anything, he wouldn't wake up and he wouldn't scream, it was worse than that, he would whisper, a torn cracked and fearful whisper, ‘ _I'm sorry **, I'm sorry,** I'm sorry, I didn't mean_ _to’,_ or _‘it wasn't me, why don't you believe me’_ , the-the worst part", he paused and swallowed, his throat burned and his eyes stung.

  
  
"The worst part was that the nightmares were about us, _all of us_ , a- and I said some pretty mean things to him, he'd laugh or scoff and ignore it but it hurt him and I didn't know, _I'm supposed to be **hope**_ , I'm supposed to bring happiness and joy and yet I'm responsible for taking it away from someone, counterpart or not he's one of us and I hurt him"

  
  
"Prince", Logic stepped up and placed his hand on the royal's shoulder, he wasn't one to discuss feelings, but he was logically able to deal with them, _he was a teacher after all_ , he cared for his students and he cared for his fellow personalities, he messed up with one, he wasn't going to do the same with his counterpart.  
  
"We've all said some pretty mean things to Anxiety and we regret it, but it's not your fault"

 

 _It's mine._  


 

* * *

  


They split up, the search for Anxiety was still ongoing.  
  
Prince had stumbled into Anxiety's room, he still blamed himself for other's disappearance, somehow he had drained Anxiety's energy and seeing that the darker personality was already sick and hardly had energy himself, Princey's only conclusion was that if Anxiety faded, he was to blame.  
  
Sighing the fanciful personality sat on the bed, he had been running around for quite a while, he legs were tired and his chest ached.  
  
He was about to through himself back on the bed when he realize something. _The top sheet and a pillow was missing._  


  
There were only three places one would take their pillows and sheets. The first was the laundry room, he would go there but he had checked there before, actually it was the next place after the bathroom that he checked. Anxiety wasn't in there.  
  
The second place one would take their sheets would be the commons, movie night tended to last the whole night, which usually meant ending around dawn.  
  
Come to think of it they had a movie night about a good week and a half back, everyone was there, except Anxiety, then again, did anyone even invite the dark loving, withdrawn personality? **_No_** _... they didn't  
_  
The only reason he didn’t rush to check if Anxiety was in the commons was because he had dragged Logic and Morality from out of there.  
  
That left the last place one could take their pillo- _oh you get the point_ , was outside. Sometimes Thomas invited them out for movie night as well, or they'd just choose to hang out with their host at night.  
  
There was no way Anxiety could go outside, he didn't have the energy to do so, _but what if he was summoned?  
_  
That thought brought a sense of apprehension, if Anxiety was fading and was summoned, he could turn into _one of those_.  
  
His form would be lost, he'd be nothing more than a mindless shadow like leech, draining Thomas until...he didn't want to think about it.  
  
If Anxiety really was turning into or already was one of them, he'd have to - Prince reached inside his suit shirt, right underneath his red sash was a small pocket, the royal boy removed a small shiny dagger from its hiding place.  
  
He would do anything to protect Thomas, even if that meant killing Anxiety or _what was left of him anyway._

 

* * *

  


Having popped outside from Anxiety's room, he ended up on the stairway rather than his usual spot in front of the TV.  
  
The fanciful Personality was in guard, he was nervous, sure he had slain Dragons and Dragon witches before, he had no qualms in killing anything that would pose a threat to his host, but this? This was different, this was Anxiety, the personality he was recently learning to bond with, the personality with a sarcastic, yet amusingly morbid sense of humor, the personality that constantly challenged him just for the fun of it, the personality who also shared his love of Disney…

 

_The personality he may have to kill._

 

Blinking back the odd sting in his eyes and ignoring the way his stomach dropped, Prince focused on the task at hand, with senses on high alert, the royal wrinkled his nose, the sharp but faint scent of something acrid filled the air, but it was drowned by a flowery semi-antiseptic smell, _Lysol perhaps_.  
  
Tilting his head slightly, he peered over to the couch, Thomas was on the handle, switching between looking at the couch, the TV or tapping quietly on his phone. _He seemed ok._  
  
Peering further Prince could see...Anxiety! The darker personality was sound asleep, pillow beneath his head and sheet draped carefully over him.  
  
Leaning back against the stairs, Prince let out a small breathy yet silent chuckle, it was more of a silent laugh of disbelief but whatever it was called it meant one thing.  
  
_He didn't have to fight, he didn't have to kill Anxiety, the younger didn't turn into **one of those** , everything...everything was alright, thank god._  
  
  
He was about to place the dagger back when he noticed his reflection, hair tussled, eyes slightly red and face stained with tear tracts, he didn't even remember crying, but he couldn't show himself to Thomas like this, it simply wasn't Princely.  
  
Wiping away the tears and combing his hair as best as he could with his fingers, he fixed himself up appropriately, before hiding back the dagger. He slowly approached Thomas with a smile.  
  
  
"He likes it when you play with his hair"

 

* * *

  
  
Prince was about to about to jump up and rescue his host when Anxiety beat him to it.  
  
Thomas was nodding off, usually that wouldn't be such a bad thing as the boy hardly got enough sleep during the past week. The problem was that he was still perched on the handle of the couch.  
  
Before he could fall or Prince could move from the couch beside him, Anxiety woke up, grabbed Thomas, pulled him down onto the couch, the sick personality then placed his pillow onto his host's lap and promptly went back to sleep.  
  
Prince heard him mumble something akin to "both of us can't have concussions", but he wasn't too sure. Why would Anxiety have a concussion?  
  
He dropped the question when he saw Thomas smile a bit, he ran his fingers through Anxiety's hair for a while longer before sleep came back to claim him.  
  
Not long after he nodded off, Morality and Logic came in.  
  
"You should have told us they were here", said the Teacher, barely above a whisper, he didn't wish to wake the two.  
  
"Sorry, I just-"  
  
"It's fine Prince, I understand"  
  
Prince nodded.  
  
"Hey were did Morality go?"  
  
Logic spun around.  
  
"I don't know, he was here a secon-"

  
  
"Shh!" Morality popped back in, silencing the both Logic and Prince. The two mentioned personalities then blinked when Dad pulled out an old camera and took a picture of the sleeping Thomas and Anxiety.  
  
The picture formed at the top, Morality grabbed it, and shook it all giddy like. When it dried, the picture showed clearly, the father smiled.  
  
"Too cute"  
  
Prince chuckled quietly. Logic rolled his eyes, but there was an amused smile on his lips.  


* * *

 

  
He couldn't remember when or how but the TV show Thomas was watching turned into news. And that was where everything went downhill.  
  
There on screen was, no doubt, Thomas' car and behind him was a monster of a vehicle, moving far too fast for its size.  
  
***Honk***

  
  
Almost like magic, both Thomas and Anxiety woke with a gasp, everyone else turned to face the two for a brief second with worried looks plastered on before returning to what was occurring on screen.

  
  
***Honk*  *Honk*  *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP***  
  
_BANG!_

  
  
_This was the Incident._

* * *

 

 

 **AN:// OMG guys, y'all are the best, I woke up on Feb 14th and like there were just so many views and votes and comments and then Thomas makes the Valentine vid and I freaking died, it was the best day ever, thank you all for making this sad child the happiest she's ever been on valentine's.**  
  
Apologies for taking so long but my net wouldn't let me update it, it was ready from yesterday, oh well life ¯\\_( **ツ** **)_/¯, hope you enjoyed this one and stay tuned for more ;)**

 


	7. The Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny, the whole thing started because of a bet for ice-cream.

* * *

  
  
***Honk*  *Honk*  * _BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP_ *  
**

 

* * *

  
  
"So where are we going again?"  
  


"No idea"

  
  
"You're kidding right? We're just wasting time and gas wandering around aimlessly-"  
  


"Yep, pretty much"  
  


The personality rolled his eyes and grumbled.  
  
"Why are you even doing this anyway?"  
  


Thomas shrugged.  


"Dunno', just wanted to hang out I guess"  
  


Anxiety raised a brow.  


"Why?"  
  


"What do you mean? We hung out many times before-"  
  


"Yeah, but never outside the house, so why do you want to hang out with me now?"  
  


"New experience I guess? I thought it be fun"  
  


" _Sure_ ", he drawled, "that's the thing you say to a guy you hate when you drag them on an impromptu road trip"  
  


Thomas frowned, he didn't like the tone Anxiety was using, it had its usual snark yet it was low and it sounded rushed, a _defensive wall_ , a _front,_ a **_cover_** _.  
  
_ The Manifestor knew better than anyone what that tone meant, _the personality was nervous_ , his words held another meaning.  
  
Looking in the rear view mirror, Anxiety's expression was neutral, well a cynical sort of sneer like thing was a neutral expression for Anxiety but that was a given, what wasn't though, was the subtle biting of his lip, a sign that any other than Thomas himself, would have missed.  
  
Having seen the small but tell-tale sign, Thomas did what he does best.  
  
"I don't hate you", he watched as Anxiety stiffened, a small movement but he saw it, "I don't like you though"  
  
The personality shrugged, posture slacking slightly.  
  
"Eh, that's fair"  
  


"Mm, well your behaviour over the past few weeks has been pretty good so-"  
  


Anxiety cut him off, crossing his arms with a frown.  
  
"Oh, so this is a reward for good behaviour, what am I, a dog?"  
  


Thomas rolled his eyes.  
  
"All I was saying was that you were good-"  
  
"Woof", sneered the other sarcastically.

 

 

“I was just saying that you’ve been-”

 

 

“ ** _Woof, woof_** … _what_ _you’re gonna put me on a leash too_?”  
  


Thomas scowled for a second, but his face then broke into a smirk.  
  
"Oh, throw me a **bone** here Anxiety"  
  
"Did you just-", the personality cut himself off, trying his best not to smile. Thomas' of course was wide as ever. It only lasted a few seconds before the youngest manifestation caved and smiled a bit. "Morality would be so _proud_ -"  
  
"So you _do_ like his Dad jokes"  
  


Anxiety shrugged, face shifting into a semi-neutral expression.   
  
"Never said I didn't, I told you, the Oldman's alright sometimes"  
  


Despite the neutral appearance, Thomas could still see the small up quirk of the other's lips.  
  
He was always good at getting people to smile.  
  


 

* * *

  
  


"Seriously Thomas, where are we going?"  
  


"I told you before, I don't know, we just go where the wind takes us I guess", the manifestor shrugged, tapping his fingers idly against the steering wheel.  
  


"News flash", said the other jutting his thumb out, "wind's blowing in the _opposite_ direction"  
  


"Well then we're going where the opposite of the wind takes us"  
  


"You know that would mean-"  
  


"No- na uh, I know what I said- shh!" Thomas held out his right hand, a sign to stop the personality from continuing.  
  
Anxiety of course, chuckled at the action before continuing to lean on the window, he didn't want to admit it but the scenery was kind of nice.  
  
Not twenty minutes later, the personality sat up, he still had the small cup that once held his ice-cream. Seeing his opportunity, he quickly rolled the window down quarter way.  
  


"Anxiety what are you-?", Peering at the side window he cut himself off as he saw the approaching blue trash bin, "there's no way you're going to make that"  
  
The personality didn't listen, instead he gave his host a defiant grin, the second the car passed close enough, he threw the cup...  
  


"Yes! Got it!"  


  
With his hands up in the "V-for-victory" pose, Thomas couldn't help but chuckle at the other.   
  
"Nice one", he clapped.  
  
Unfortunately his chuckling snapped Anxiety out of his rare happy moment, his hands came down in an instant.  
  
"Eyes on the road and hands on the wheel!"  
  
Thomas chuckled some more.  
  
Anxiety sat back, he lifted the collar of his hoodie, he didn't lift the hood over his head but it did seem like he was trying to bury his face in the jacket.

 

He was blushing under all that white foundation.

 

* * *

 

  


Anxiety must have dozed off for a bit or somehow they managed to teleport the car.  
  


"Thomas?"  


  
"Yes?", The manifestor was purposely not looking at him.  
  


"Care to explain how we ended up from practically empty nowhere", he gestured, "to the middle of _this_?"  
  


They were in the bane of every driver's existence... ** _traffic_**.  
  
And heavy traffic at that, what seemed like miles upon miles was a sea of different color and sized vehicles.  
  


"I don't know, I just turned!"  
  


"Well can you turn back?"  
  
The manifestor tried reversing only to be met with the loud **_*Beep*_** of a horn behind him.  
  


Anxiety clucked his tongue sarcastically, "guess not"  
  


With a roll of his eyes, the personality took out his earphones from his pocket and plugged them into his phone.  
  


If they were gonna be stuck for a while, might as well listen to some good music.  
  


* * *

  
  


He was starting to doze off again, they hadn't moved much _or at all_ in the last half hour, and in all honesty it wasn't so bad, they weren't in a rush anyway.  
  
His phone stopped playing music, he had reached the end of his playlist but that didn't bother him...Thomas was humming something, he couldn't quite recall the name of the song, it was a nice tune though, maybe he'd ask Prince later...if he remembered that is...  
  
His eye-lids were getting heavy...  
He hadn't been able to sleep at all for the past two-or...or three days, _was it three?_ Nightmares about **_something_** , he still didn't know what it was, just a bad feeling, and it… just kept _messing with him_...  
  
Flicking his hood up and successfully covering his eyes, the personality decided there wouldn't be much harm in drifting off... at least for a little while...

 

 

* * *

  
  
" -xiety"  
"Anxiety"  
  
At the call of his name the personality's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, slightly startled.   
  
He removed one earbud, there was no music, but it was the principle of the thing.  
  
"Uh...yeah?"  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"You got quite back there-", Thomas turned to face him, noticing the earbud he still held in his hand, the manifestor decided to comment on it, "oh music, that's why- you might wanna start lowering that, you're gonna get deaf pretty soon listening to music at such a high volume"  
  
Anxiety shrugged.  
  
Apparently Thomas didn't notice that he had fallen asleep but then again, according to his phone, he had only dozed off for about five to seven minutes, not much really.  
  
"Good music is music that satisfyingly leaves your ears ringing when it's over, despite the genre"  
  
"You're gonna damage your ears"  
  
"And you- wait, what are you doing?" For the first time since his abrupt awakening, he noticed that Thomas was making use of the traffic given time.   
  
The boy was writing something down, a stack of papers were on his lap, while he wrote on one using the steering wheel as a table.  
  
"I'm answering some fan-mail from some of the Fanders"  
  
Anxiety raised a brow.  
  
"Why do you have fan-mail in the car?"  
  
Thomas blushed and shrugged sheepishly.  
  
"I kinda forgot some of them in here? Bu-but it's the perfect time for me to answer them now"  
  
Rolling his eyes the personality gestured to the odd pen the boy was writing with.  
  
"Oh this? It's a pen and a letter opener, someone sent it to me and it’s made things a bit easier-"  
  
"You just like cutting open letters with the back end don't you?"  
  
"Hey! It writes smoothly too you know"  
  
The personality simply smirked and sat back like he was _before_ his impromptu nap was interrupted.  


 

* * *

  
  
"Hey, we're moving again, the wait wasn't that bad, right Anxiety?"

  
The traffic had just started to disperse so movement was easier, but the pace was still pretty slow, of course he had wanted to tease the other about their "upgrade" from snail speed to a turtle's pace.  
  
Thomas turned to look at the other only to see that the personality was asleep, slouched down slightly with slow steady breaths, the hood of his jacket was lifted to the top of his head, probably when he slid down, with the hood up at the hairline, the manifestor was clearly able to see the peaceful look on Anxiety's face.  
  
Thomas smiled a bit, "aww, poor guy's all tuckered out", he would take a picture but he knew the other would never trust him for a drive around ever again, so he refrained.

  
But it _was_ a good thing he looked back, Anxiety wasn't wearing a seatbelt, though it was odd considering that's the first thing he told Thomas to do the second he entered the car. He was puzzled as to why the other had removed his belt, when it clicked. The personality had taken off the seatbelt when he was aiming his cup through the window at the garbage bin, the manifestor had to admit, it _was_ a really cool shot.  
  
They weren't moving now, so with a small smile, Thomas undid his and stretched over to the backseat where he carefully drew the seatbelt over Anxiety and secured it with a soft _'click'_.  
  
The personality had twitched during the ordeal but did not stir. Seeing that Anxiety had remained asleep, Thomas easily slid back to his proper place at the wheel. He lowered the back window a bit more to give the personality a little breeze and to allow some fresh air into the car.  
  
"Today was a fun day", he thought, they had hung out at home for breakfast, got lunch from a drive through, had a bet for ice cream... _and_ got stuck in traffic, but other than that it was a pretty good day.  
  
With that thought and a smile still on his face, Thomas drove at the moderate pace the traffic allowed, but carefully so as not to wake his sleeping passenger. 

 

* * *

 

  
  
He didn't know when but his eyes slowly slid open and he was left in that odd sleep-and-wake state. With his mind was pleasantly numbed, he had the option of either staying awake or slipping right back into sleep.   
  
Looking out the window he instantly recognized the area they were in, just about five blocks away from home, he could easily go back to sleep until they reached, thank Thomas for the food and ice-cream and then pass out in his own _cool and comfortable bed_ \- he stifled a small yawn.  
  
According to his phone, the amount of sleep he got in the car could be rounded up to... eh, call it an hour, definitely not enough considering he missed three days worth, _pfft what even was a sleep schedule?_  
  
Deciding he could wait the- now four-blocks, Anxiety sat up and stretched, vaguely aware that he was wearing a seatbelt, blinking he realized with a slight blush that Thomas had to have clipped it for him, he sorely hoped the other didn't take a picture.  
  
Speaking of, he removed the seatbelt to peer over his host's shoulder, Thomas was writing again. With no one behind them and only two cars in front at a red light, the host was happily scribbling replies and thank you notes.  
  
"How many of those you got left"  
  
The manifestor jumped.  
  
"Oh you're up! Uh-", he sifted through some of the papers on his lap before putting almost all of them into the gloves compartment, with the task done he looked up at Anxiety and beamed, "just two". The personality rolled his eyes.  
  
It didn't take long for vehicle in front to move, so Thomas did as well.  
  
The first car had taken a right turn and _left_ , which means that there was only one car before them and two blocks to get home.  
  
Currently at a red light, the manifestor finished the last two letters, he was about to place them with the others, when things all went to hell...  
  
or heck if you will.

 

 

* * *

 

  
  
He heard it, faint but it caused goosebumps to break out on his skin, shivering slightly at the odd feeling as his skin crawled, the sound grew louder.  
  
They were moving now, red lighted turned green, Anxiety figured out what the sound was.  
  
"Thomas look out!"  
  
***Honk*  *Honk*  * _BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP_ *  
**

 

* * *

  
  
Thomas didn't even know what was happening, everything was moving so _fast_ , all he knew was that one second he was writing letters and the next thing he knew Anxiety grabbed the wheel.  
  
The pain that flooded through his left hand was excruciating, but he didn't have the time to dwell on it.

The personality had turned the wheel with such a force the car had tilted, but that wasn't the only thing, to add to his shock the nerve grating, **_screeching_** sound of  metal grinding on metal practically deafened his ears.   
  
With his limited view he only had time for his eyes to widen and see a rear view mirror splinter, break and fly in through their window as the large speeding vehicle passed by.  
  
The second he blinked...  
  


**T H E  C A R  F L I P P E D .**

 

* * *

 

 

Anxiety was panicking, he recognized the sound a little _too late_ , he had shouted _too late_ , with only an anxiously driven impulse he grabbed the wheel and turned it.  
  
The problem was, Thomas still had the letter opener pen thing in his hand, when he grabbed the wheel the pen slipped and the back end, _the bladed part_ , sliced deeply through the boy's hand. Blood pooled instantly but he couldn't think about that, Anxiety barely even had time to duck before the vehicle's mirror came flying at him, having moved in time it bounced off the edge driver's seat and landed somewhere, then...  
  
**They flipped.  
**  
_It all happened so fast.  
  
**And yet it everything moved in slow motion...  
  
**_

  
He just barely realized that neither of them were wearing seatbelt as he felt himself tumble in air, out the corner of his eye, he could see Thomas, but the host was blurry, in front of him is what scared him the most.  
  
Upside down, with everything flying around in **dead quiet** and in extreme slow motion, he watched as a large red blob of liquid formed, it looked like a the hugest, deeply colored tear drop ever, he knew of course, it was blood.  
  
There was no arguing that, but the blob had formed into the shape with a small  
**_'fwip'_** that was the first sound in all the silence. The droplet then fell somewhere by his head with the largest **_'Psssh'_** ever.

 

_Instantly he could hear everything else._  
**_  
The car alarms were going off, there was screaming and yelling, the smell of sulphur and smoke filled the air and he couldn't move._**  
  
He was upside-down, his legs were bent oddly, but not broken, over the driver’s seat, from here he could see that the little black mat he was on, was covered in glass and blood.  
  
_The car flipped.  
_  
_They flipped and there's blood all around him.  
  
It wasn't **his**.  
_  
.....  
  
Anxiety needed to turn, Thomas was hurt and badly, he had to be and it was all because of him.  
  
The manifestor wasn't dead he knew that, after all, a personality couldn't live without their host, he needed to see how bad- how much damage his mistake caused, he turned his head to the right....  
  
**_He wanted to scream.  
_**  
Thomas was there, as upside-down as he was but he wasn't moving, he lay there, eyes wide and skin pale in a pool of blood that dyed his hair red, **the boy wasn't moving.  
  
**  
_This was all his fault, he should have moved faster, he should have said something sooner, he should of....  
  
He should have stayed home.  
  
He should have said no, this was his fault, if he had only said no Thomas wouldn't be in this situation.  
_  


"Thomas! Thomas!"  
  
Anxiety's voice cracked.  
  
  
"Thomas! Thomas please, we need to move!"

 

* * *

 

  
_Everything hurt, his left hand especially, they flipped, there was blood everywhere, would the car explode like the movies?  
Who's blood was it, his or Anxiety's? Was the personality ok? Where?-  
  
_ "-omas!"  
"Thomas please we need to move"  
  
_Anxiety? Move? What did he-?_ It hit him like a ton of bricks, he coughed at the force, only just realizing, **_he hadn't been breathing_**. _  
_  
The large gasp of breath he took was all Anxiety needed to pull him upright and onto the seat.  
  
They had flipped, but the car landed back on its wheels.  
  
Thomas was numbly pulled onto the passenger seat, from there he could see the surroundings, the tanker had crashed into the car that was once in front of them, the Sedan that was far bigger than his car looked nothing less than smashed.  
  
_He didn't even hear the crash.  
_  
It was a good thing that the person had long parked and stepped out before the car was hit.  
  
The person was alive and they were alive and- _they were moving?_  
  
Anxiety wasted no time, he kicked the car into gear and sped away from the scene.

 

The personality was mumbling something but he could hear, as a matter of fact, he couldn't hear anything.  
  
"...omas!"  
  
"Thomas! Breathe!"  
  
_Breathe? He was breathing wasn't he?_

 

* * *

 

 

Anxiety officially about to have an attack, Thomas had started hyperventilating as soon as he had snapped out of the flip induced shock.  
  
Of course the second the personality realized that lady luck happened to be on their side and that they had flipped and landed back upright, he wasted no time in pulling his host onto a chair and getting them out of there.  
  
Kicking the car in gear he took off, wheels **_screetching_** in protest as he drove full force, turning the lane and heading for home.  
  
Thomas was still having trouble breathing and he could hear the other's gasps for breath, the personality winced, he wasn't getting much air through.  
  
It took a few seconds but after a while the gasping just stopped, Anxiety panicked even more, he knew what that meant, it _always_ happened to him.  
  
"Thomas!"  
  
"Thomas breathe, please!"  
  
"Thomas!"  
  
"Thomas! Breathe!"  
  


* * *

  


_He couldn't breathe, his chest hurt and his arms and legs were numb.  
  
He was trying hard to breathe but-  
_  
**_'EEEEERRRRRRRKKKKKKSS'  
  
_** Anxiety turned the lane.  
  
**_'SCREEEEEEECCCCCCHHHHH'  
_**  
and another.  
  
"We're almost there Thomas, three houses left, **_just_** _**hold on** "  
  
_**And so he did.**  
  


* * *

 

  
The second they reached home, Anxiety stopped the car, threw Thomas the keys and told him to open the door and run to his room.  
  
With his host doing that he quickly gathered up the two black mats that were now red and glass covered. He picked them up _and the mirror from the tanker_ and threw them in the trash can. This took about the same time it took Thomas to shakily open the door.  
  
Anxiety, ran inside but not before taking one last look at the car. Surprisingly the car both the inside and outside of the car looked as if nothing had happened, sans the now missing mats,  the inside was clean and there wasn't a visible scratch on the outside.  
  
Shaking his head, the personality moved in a speed one would never expect, in seconds he locked the door, shut all the windows and had drawn all curtains.  
  
On pure impulse, adrenaline and fear, he grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen and ran to Thomas' room. The manifestor had managed to breathe somewhat regular- _ok he wasn't even close_ , but he got more air in than he did while in the car.  
  
Without saying a word, Anxiety picked up Thomas' hand, took a sanitizing wipe from the kit and cleaned the wound. Trembling, he carefully wrapped it in bandages.  


**__ **

**_ He had reached his breaking point. _ **

 

 

 As soon as he finished, he grabbed Thomas' phone and tried dialling for Leo.  
  
He then threw the phone beside his host, it was ringing.  
  
"Call him or any of them, just call **_someone!_** "  
  
With that he sank into the mindscape and made a break for his room.

 

* * *

 

Anxiety left before hearing Leo's voice mail. Thomas' trembling fingers could barely hold the phone and it wasn't long till Logic popped up.  
  
"Thomas? Thomas what's wrong?"  
  
_He couldn't speak, how was he supposed to tell Logic that he almost got his fellow personality killed?_

He didn't say anything-the entire situation and scenario caught up to him-but his panic attack did.

 

 

* * *

 

All five of them where in the living room watching the news.  
  
All of them horrified by the near death experience they saw on screen, two more so than others, they watched as the tanker sped up and barely missed ramming into their car.  
  
The tilt was probably what saved them, but it was almost what killed them too, of course when the tanker continued it's movement and the car flipped, it didn't flip high, just missing a mere couple of centimetres from the ground. As neither of the boys had on seatbealts, if the car had touched, **they'd be dead.  
  
**

  
_"We can only wonder who the lucky owner of the car was-"_

_  
_  
Morality turned off the TV, but it was too late.  
  


**_Thomas' phone rang, his computer and the phone itself filled up with notifications and worried messages, Emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, hell someone even tagged him in a YouTube video that was the exact replica of the one shown on news.  
_**  


The manifestor couldn't take anymore, Anxiety sensed this and sat up, _Thomas made a break for his room.  
  
_

Morality followed after.  


Leaving Prince, Logic and an extremely pale Anxiety alone.  


The youngest personality swallowed thickly.  


Logic stepped up towards him, face set and stern.  


Anxiety tensed.

 

* * *

  
  
**AN:// aaaay, there it is the "incident" is finally known! What will Logic do to Anxiety? ;)  
Ok so the whole car flip thing had actually happened to me before, last year- well _November_ , my Bros and I were teaching our youngest bud to drive the pickup truck, he took a hard turn and the vehicle legit tilted, scraped against a guardrail and flipped... then landed on its wheels.  
As the one idiot who didn't have on a seatbelt, I ended up upside-down, I was also holding a pen in my hand so I did get stabbed by it, almost everything that had happened regarding the flip had happened to me, the good news though, is that my lil Bro finally got his license today XD  
On that note I'd like to thank you guys, for reading and leaving your comments, y'all make writing worthwhile :)**

 


	8. Feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> or not to Feels, that is the question XD

* * *

 

Logic stepped up, neutral expression in place but for as unperturbed as he may have seemed, on the inside he was gaping.  
  
"Anxiety, **_you_** did that?"  
  
The teacher just couldn't believe- Anxiety did something he never would have thought to do.  
  
It was illogical to turn the wheel, in any other circumstance, _without the luck_ , that tanker would have hit them, **no matter what**.  
  
If he was in the car instead of Anxiety, Thomas would either be dead or in the ICU at best.  
  
He wouldn't have turned the wheel, he wouldn't have risked it, and because of that he wouldn't have protected Thomas, the one true thing a personality sets to do for their host, the one thing he held above all else.  
  
If he was in that car and not Anxiety, Logic would have watched as the manifestor died.  
  
He would have failed to protect the boy.  
But Anxiety?  
  
_Anxiety saved Thomas' life-_

**_  
_**  
"I'm sorry"  


  
_What?_

 

* * *

  


  
Logic stepped up towards him, face set and stern.  
  
Anxiety tensed.  
  
The Teacher was coming closer and every part of his being was telling him to run-  
  


**_"You're a coward Anxiety"_**  
  
  
He flinched, thoughts of what had occurred in the kitchen echoing in his mind.  
  
  
The other didn't seem to notice, he came close, looking at him with an odd glint on his eyes.  
  
The younger personality gulped, _Logic was going to yell again._  
  
This was bad, he screwed up majorly, hell if the Teacher yelled at him for this he might even yell at Thomas, _they should have been more careful on the road_.  
  
**_No_** -he wasn’t going to let that happen, Logic could yell at him **not** Thomas, the manifestor wasn't to blame, he was the one who got _hurt_. It was **_his_** fault, maybe if he acted faster, or if he didn't fall asleep he would have been more alert, they could have probably pulled to the side a lot earlier or if he hadn't drifted off before they got stuck in traffic, they could have turned the other way or...  
  
Anxiety's mind was racing a mile a minute and his heart was following that pace, breathing was becoming a bit difficult but the personality ignored it, he needed to stop this now before Thomas got a lecture he did not deserve.  
  
"Anxiety, **_you_** did that?"  
  
He gave a slight nod in answer, the darker personality was standing now, _somehow_ , head bowed low with eyes to the ground.

  
  
**_"How could you do such a thing Anxiety?"_**

**_  
_**  
Logic was mad, he winced but he needed to make sure the Teacher knew that all the fault was his and not Thomas'.

  
  
"I'm sorry"  


 

* * *

 

  
Prince gaped, Anxiety was acting strangely, he was acting like - he paused for a word- the other was acting like he was **_afraid_** of Logic.  
  
The Royal had seen Anxiety flinch, he saw how the younger tensed up, but why? Logic wasn't going to harm him, especially not now, he had just saved Thomas' life, something all personalities were meant to do, something even he was not brave enough to do.  
  
Anxiety cheated death, there was no way else to put it, he cheated death and made sure Thomas escaped with him. How the darker personality managed that, Prince had no clue.  
  
If he was in that car...well they wouldn't be here today, he could fight Dragons and witches and Dragon witches but _death_? That was something he had yet to conquer.  
  
He looked at the younger personality in silent awe, but Anxiety was still behaving strangely, maybe he should say something to the other, after all he was still sick, maybe it had something to do with tha-  
  
"I'm sorry"  
  
**_Or not.  
_**

 

* * *

  
"Thomas? Thomas please talk to me son"  
  
  
"I'm sorry"   
  
  
"What?"  
  
Of all things Morality expected, this apology was not one of them. He expected his host to tell him that he wasn't his son or to tell him to make the phone calls and notifications stop, but why was he apologizing?  
  
"I said I'm sorry", the muffled voice mumbled.  
  
Morality ventured closer to the lump on the bed.  
  
"For what Thomas?", his tone was gentle and steady but the concern still slipped through.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
"Thomas?"  
  
"I-I'm sorry-"  
  
Morality winced, the boy's voice cracked, laced with emotion and no doubt, tears.  
  
"You still haven't told me for what though kiddo"  
  
"I'm s-so sorry"  
  
"Thomas", the tone wasn't stern but it got the job done just the same.  
  
"I almost got us killed, I almost got Anxiety killed, I almost-"  


Thomas' voice cracked again, his breathe hitching as he tried to speak through his hidden tears.  
  
Morality sighed internally, of course the manifestor would blame himself for what happened

 

* * *

  
  
The boy was in bed hidden underneath his quilt, his phone was on the counter ringing up a storm but he couldn't bring himself to answer it, his mind was still reeling from what he saw.  
  
If it weren't for Anxiety he'd be dead, hell they'd all be dead, he was a host, if he died, they all died with him, he should have been more aware of the road, he should have payed more attention, he should have....  
  
_He should have been more careful.  
_  
The phone was still ringing and beeping and so was the computer. Sure he could turn them off but, he couldn't, he just couldn't. These were his friends and family and worried Fanders, he couldn't shut them down like that, but he also couldn't answer them either.

 

* * *

  
  
"What?"  
  
Logic's tone was tense.  
  
"I said", he swallowed, "...I said _I'm sorry_ "  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
The younger clenched his fist, fingernails cutting into his palms, he couldn't tell what tone the teacher was using now, his vision was blurring and his throat felt like there was a lump in it.  
  
"I-i don't know what happened, w-we went to get lunch because he was bored, somehow or the other we ended up betting on something stupid and the winner was supposed to get ice cream from that place on middle street and-"  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
"Thomas won but he still bought me ice cream anyway, I don't know why but after we got it he asked if I wanted to just drive around I-i should have said no but I didn't-"  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
"We ended up stuck in traffic and when it was clearing I heard it, I _heard_ it but I didn't say it fast enough, I didn't move fast enough an-and when I grabbed the wheel the pen slipped and the blade- that's what cut him in the first place, when we flipped I didn't know what to do, I-i panicked he wasn't breathing, there was blood everywhere and I should have taken him to a hospital or-or something but I didn't, I just brought him here an-"  
  
" ** _ANXIETY!_** " Yelled Logic.  
  
The darker personality practically jumped back and froze, the Teacher's tone sent his frenzied mind to a blank, his eyes went even wider, Anxiety could swear his heart stopped. He would hate himself even more later for the choked sob that he unintentionally let slip.

 

* * *

 

  
Logic watched as the younger gasped for breath, he had flinched when he was yelled at, obviously, but the pure panic in his features set off something in the Teacher.  
  
The darker personality's eyes were wide and a few tears spilled from them, he had only sobbed once, though his body shook silently and continuously.  
  
Logic didn't like that.  
  
He stepped closer to the younger....  
And did something no one would expect.  
  
He raised his hand...  
  
  
**_Hands.  
  
_**

  
Logic took a page out of Morality's book, he pulled the younger into an embrace and held, _not tightly but **securely**_ , around the other.  
  


* * *

 

  
Prince gaped, he'd never seen the Teacher initiate contact before, it was always Morality who would hug him. To see Logic hugging Anxiety, it was…quite cute actually.  
  
He saw Anxiety tense, but that was expected, what wasn't expected was Logic apologizing to the younger personality.  
  
_What in the world was going on?  
_  
He was starting to feel like a side character, and that of course, would just not do.  
  
He stepped carefully over to the other two, he didn't say anything, nor did he come too close, _what? He was curious, not rude.  
_  
He gave Anxiety a small smile. The younger's eyes widened just a slight, his lips wavered and a bit more tears streamed down his face before he finally caved and accepted Logic's hug.  


 

* * *

  
  


"You know it's not your fault Thomas"  
  
"But it is Morality! If he wasn't there, none of us would be here-"  
  
"Then it's a good thing he was there-"  
  
"It was my fault he was there in the first place, none of this would have happened if just… ***sniff*** if I just listened to him and came home"  
  
This time Morality sighed out loud, he knew what his host meant, and he knew what his host was feeling, he was the embodiment of his deep emotions after all.

 

"Thomas, I know how you feel, but you can't blame yourself", Thomas sniffled some more from under the sheets, Morality rolled his eyes, "would you blame Anxiety for this?"  
  
The reaction was instant. The sheets flew off and Thomas was sitting straight up, red faced, tear tracks and all.  
  
"Of course not! He saved me, _he saved us_ "  
  
Morality pulled him into an embrace.

  
"Do you think he knows that?"  
  
"What? Are you saying that he blames himself? Why would he-?"  
  
"Why would **_you_**?"  
  
Thomas opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, eyebrows knitting together, pensive.  


 

* * *

 

  
Anxiety tensed when Logic hugged him, he wasn't one for contact, even more so when he didn't expect it.  
  
The hug did surprise him, but what surprised him the most was what the Teacher said.  
  
"I should be the one apologizing, not you"  
  
He didn't say anything, to stunned to do so, but that didn't stop the teacher.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I said such horrible things to you"  
_  
You were right though, you always are._

  
  
"I was so angry, and I hurt you"

  
  
_You were supposed to, you were right.  
  
_

_  
_ "I didn't know what to think, everything happened so fast, when I found Thomas in his room, his hair was soaked in blood and he mentioned you and I _assumed_ -"  
  


_It was my fault, you were **righ** -  
  
_

  
**"I was wrong"  
  
  
**

The proverbial glass barrier of Anxiety's mind shattered. Even more so when Prince came up and gave him a small smile.  
  
He didn't know what it was but… the smile and the hug, it made him believe that Logic's words had some semblance of truth, _maybe it really wasn't he fault?  
  
_ He hugged the Teacher back, his lips trembled and he knew he was full on crying now but he refused to make a sound, he had _some dignity._

_  
_  
"It wasn't your fault, and I'm sorry for making you feel like it was, Thomas refused to tell me and I did the most illogical thing to my name, I jumped to conclusions and I hurt you and I'm sorry"  


  
Anxiety blinked back the overflow of tears, his throat was burning but he would not make a sound.   
  


"I know I said things that hurt you and I know you believed me and I'm sorry, but please if you believe all those lies then believe this one truth, I'm proud of you"    
  


He said nothing but his body did for him.  
His knees wobbled and he sank to the floor, Logic helped lower him gently.  
  


The teacher broke from the embrace but placed his hand on the younger's shoulder.  
  


"You saved him Anxiety, you saved all of us"

 

* * *

  
  
After his little "speech" Logic didn't know what else to do, Anxiety wasn't moving anytime soon and this was emotional as he would ever see the younger.  
  
He sighed internally, emotions were the bane of his existence, but he was a teacher, and some of his students have had a couple breakdowns before so he could deal with them at a certain amount.  
  
That amount had increased especially considering that he was spending more time with Morality, but he was at his peak.  
  
Looking to Prince for help, he was glad when the fanciful personality got the hint and took over.

 

* * *

  
  
Logic was looking at him desperately, and instantly he knew that the other was at a loss for what to do.  
  
_Showing that much emotion in a day? **Logic**?_ Poor guy was probably emotionally drained.  
  


Taking the hint he moved over to the ever silent Anxiety and place a hand on the unoccupied shoulder.  
  


"I don't know what Logic was talking about, I don't know what he said to you before, but he said he's proud of you and that is a testament I can agree to"  
  


Anxiety looked up at him, with watery eyes and tear tracks that made his fanciful heart _'twinge'_.  
  
  
"I didn't do much...", mumbled the darker personality hoarsely, he had stopped shaking but one or two stray tears would still roll down his cheeks.  
  


"You saved him Anxiety, the number one goal of any personality is to protect their host and you did just that, you protected him and saved him, sure he _was_ wounded-"  
  
Logic glared at him over Anxiety's shoulder.  
  
" _Buut_ , it could have been far worse, you kept our host alive, you saved him, something that even I haven't done yet and we all know **_I'm awesome_** "   
  
Anxiety scoffed a little.

  
Prince smiled and continued.

 

"Oh please, you know it's true, right Logic?"  
  


"I, wouldn't quite say that Prince"  
  


Anxiety chuckled at the Teacher's remark.

  
  
"Hey I take offense to that!", cried Prince dramatically, his smile was bigger than ever. "I'm wonderful!"  
  


"Sure you are Princey"  
  


_"Mhhm, you're smiling **sunshine** , you know you love me~ ”  
_  
Anxiety rolled his eyes.  


_"You're blushing~"_

  
  
"Oh, shut up"

  
  
Logic and Prince laughed, and soon enough a slightly blushing Anxiety joined them, tears long gone.  


 

* * *

 

  
"I didn't think he would"  


  
"I know, and you know why and you gave reasons why he should stop blaming himself, maybe you should follow your own advice hmm?"

  
  
Thomas was laying on Morality's chest as the other was sitting up and rubbing soothing circles on his back, sometimes he would switch from rubbing his back to playing gently with his hair.

  
  
"I'll try-", he mumbled into the blue shirt.

  
  
"And that's all anyone can ever ask of you, ok?"

  
  
The Parent was giving him that.... " _parent_ " look, he nodded, a small smile forming on his lips.

  
Morality beamed right back at him, happily humming a tune as he switched into playing with his semi-long brown locks.  
  
Thomas sank deeper into the contact, loving the feel of fingers through his hair.  
  
Morality chuckled.  
  


"You know, neither me or Logic-", he paused and winced, so did Thomas, "I didn't say that right at all did I?"  
  
The manifestor scrounged his nose, shook his head and mouthed a small  _'No'_.

  
  
"Thought so, either way, neither of us like other's playing in our hair-"  
  


"Really? Why?"  


Morality shrugged.  
  
"It feels weird to me and Logic says he doesn't see the point in the gesture"  
  


Thomas chuckled, so did Dad.

  
"And you know Princey isn't going to let anyone mess up his perfect hair-", this got the boy to laugh a bit.  
  


"Wait so Anxiety-"  
  


"Yep, he's the only who likes his hair played with"  
  


Thomas nodded, a smile replacing his once frustrated tears, "so I've been told".  


 

* * *

  
  
It was sometime after midnight when Anxiety decided he had enough of all the "touchy-feelyness" of the day.   
  
He silently slipped from off the couch, he had fallen asleep somewhere after Morality came downstairs. He had gotten the "I'm proud of you" speech from the Oldman too, there was a lot of hugs and tears, the latter from him and the former from Dad of course.  
  
There was small talk and idle chatter but eventually the stress and emotional baggage of the day took a toll on them and they had all fallen asleep around ten or something.   
  
The youngest personality shrugged internally and carefully stepped over someone's precariously positioned arm.  
  
The other's were scattered around in various sleeping positions in Thomas' living room. He of course being the only one awake, silenced his phone, which **_somehow_** still had charge despite remaining in his pocket for the past three days and took a picture.  
  
Happy with the outcome, he smiled to himself, silently glad the device didn't break from his abrupt crash land ***ehem*** summons onto the stairs this morning.  
  
Silently he continued his trek onto said stairs and then above it, he knew he was far too tired and much too drained to "sink down" but yet he climbed the stairs to Thomas' room.  
  
He hadn't seen the manifestor since he ran off, Morality said he handled it and had left when Thomas had tired himself out enough to fall asleep.  
  
He didn't know why but Anxiety just _had_ to see his host, even if he was asleep, he just needed to make sure the other was ok, the incident had messed them both up and today…seeing what _happened_ was no less terrifying.   
  
When he peeked in the room, he couldn't say he was surprised, there was **_no way_** Thomas would ignore that many people, the boy was up and on his computer typing away, no doubt answering emails after having reassured those who had called and texted him.  
  


"And here I thought, I was the only child of the dark"  
  


Thomas jumped.  
  
"Anxiety!" He held his heart for a few seconds, before looking at the other again.  
  


"How are you feeling?"  
  


"Eh", he shrugged, "I've been better"  
  


"You?"  


  
"Same"

 

Anxiety scoffed, rolling his eyes and  with only the smallest hint of a smile, he climbed up on the bed next to Thomas.  
  
They said nothing for a while, quite content in the silence, with only the sound of the keys clacking.   
  
That was until Thomas spoke.  
  


"Hey...?"  
  


"Yeah?", Anxiety quircked a brow, the host had just finished the last of the emails and had already answered the YouTube questions.  
  


"You know, I never got to say thank-"  
In an instant Anxiety's hand covered his mouth.   
  


"Look Thomas, I know what you mean and I appreciate it, but there was a whole three to five hour long discussion outside about the same thing, so can we not?"  
  
The manifestor nodded and Anxiety removed his hand.  
  
Thomas understood what the personality meant, he was a little hurt but he understood, there was too much emotion all at once, and if Logic was bad at dealing with emotion, Anxiety was even worse.   
  
So with another small nod the Manifestor continued typing, this time it was to answer some questions on his tumblr.

  
  
There was a beat of silence.

  
  
"...you're welcome", mumbled the personality.  
  
Thomas smiled.

 

* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay so it turned out to be feels and fluff lol I got y'all worried XD  
Ok so I'm still cackling over the comments that you guys send in especially from chapter 5, all y'all freaking out over Prince and his dagger, one particular comment was like "DON'T KILL YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND" and I'm dying still. I do read all the comments, all of them and I try my best to answer them, y'all make my craptastic week so much better, so thank you.(^-^*)  
Next update should be either Sunday or Wednesday so stay tuned for that. _What? you thought this was done?_ Haha _nooo_ , I gave fluff today, get ready for the angst, remember Anxiety is still sick ;) **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Aftermath

It was around three- _almost four_ , when Thomas finally decided to give his tired eyes a break, actually no, his exhaustion finally caught up with him and his eyes became too blurry and unfocused to see any of the words on screen.  
  
He was about to ask Anxiety if he wanted to answer any more of the questions when he realized there was a weight on his shoulder.  
  
He'd been answering questions from concerned Fanders since Anxiety came in, every now and again the personality would answer a few.

 

* * *

  
  
"And, there, done!"  
  
Anxiety had just finished answering a question.

Thomas moved in closer.  
  
"Huh, I didn't think you could lie that well Anxiety"  
  
"I didn't"  
  
" _Mhm_ , sure, name me **_one_** time you've ever been that nice", gestured Thomas to the personality's generous amount of, surprisingly kind, text.  
  
Anxiety deadpanned.  
  
"First off I don't lie, that's not my job - ah no, put your hand down", Thomas did as told, a small smirk playing at his lips, "my job is to find lies, and tell you possible outcomes, possible things that will or could happen, I do **not** lie"  
  
The manifestor held up his hands in a placating gesture.  
  
"Alright, say you're not a hypothetical liar-", Anxiety glared at him, "the niceness isn't you though"  
  
The personality shrugged.  
  
"I can be nice, but sarcasm and cynicism is just easier"  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes and hit send.  
  
"I'm not a liar, though, I just don't really do nice, that's Princey's thing"  
  
"You sur-"  
  
"Yes I'm sure", he hissed, "If anything, I'm honestly blunt-"  
  
" _Extremely_ blunt you mean, blunt until your borderline rude-"  
  
"Eh", shrugged Anxiety, with a sly grin.  
  
"Alright, Mr. Honesty, how come you’re not this nice with the rest of us?"  
  
"Cause first off, that was probably a twelve year old", Thomas gave an inclined nod, "and second...” the personality smirked, " _where's the fun in that_?"  
  
The host groaned and threw one of his pillows at the other.  
  
He caught it with ease.  
  
"Hope you know, I'm holding on to this for a while, if you get sleepy, I'm not giving it back"  
  
The manifestor shrugged.  
  
"That's fine, I've got the other one", he then gestured to the computer, specifically his inbox, "you doing the next one?"  
  
"Sure"

 

* * *

  
  
They had split the amount of questions, Anxiety had long finished his final three, while he had just finished his last one.  
  
He didn't even notice when the personality drifted off, the weight on only one side should have been an indication.  
  
Anxiety was leaning with his head on Thomas' shoulder, calm shallow breaths,  ** _deeply_** **_asleep_**.  
  
How he hadn't noticed was definitely anyone's guess because Thomas himself had no clue.  
  
Gently he moved the other off him and onto the pillow he had playfully shot him with earlier.  
  
In response, the personality curled around the pillow, the manifestor chuckled quietly. Who would have thought Anxiety could be cute?  
  
Brushing back stray hairs from his face, Thomas frowned, with all the drama of today, it just slipped his mind, pressing his hand gently on the personality's forehead, he sighed in relief, Anxiety's fever wasn't any higher than it was on the stairs but it wasn't lower either.  
  
The blue cold cloth was downstairs and if he remembered correctly, Anxiety had mentioned that the other three were asleep downstairs.  
  
Slowly and carefully, Thomas put up his laptop and slid out of bed and quietly tiptoed down the steps.  
  
The first thing he noticed was that there was a small white light on, it was gentle enough not to hurt his eyes, but bright enough for him to see that two of his personalities were sprawled off together on one side of the couch and one was alone on the other side reading a book.  
  
_Prince?  
_

 

* * *

  
  
He would have expected Logic to be reading the book, but seeing his fanciful side with a book wasn't unusual, he was an avid reader and so were each of his personalities, Anxiety and Logic especially.  
  
Speaking of Logic, the Teacher was sprawled, well more in a tangled heap of limbs, with Morality, both with their glasses strewn haphazardly on their faces.  
  
On Logic's back was the gray cardigan that Dad usually wore around his shoulders.

 

Morality had one arm draped across the Teacher's side, their legs were tangled with each other's while their arms were either hanging off or stretched out on the arm of the chair.  
  
It was an amusing mess and Thomas was looking forward to seeing their reactions when they woke.  
  
The manifestor stepped silently off the stairs and approached the only personality that was awake.  
  
"Hey Prince", he whispered.  
  
The Regal personality jumped, causing his phone to slide from where ever it was perched, causing the light to follow with it.  
  
_Oh, so that's what the light was, Prince's phone.  
_  
Once he got a hold of his phone, said personality turned to his host.  
  
"Thomas? What are you doing up? It's almost 4am!"  
  
"I know, I just came down to get the cold cloth for Anxiety"  
  
Princey seemed to deflate.  
  
"Is it still high?"  
  
"It hasn't gotten any higher than when I summoned him", Thomas winced, the loud thud of Anxiety's body hitting the stairs was ringing in his head.  
  
Price winced aswell but for a different reason _, the fever was still high_. He shook his head slightly before looking at his host, the boy was obviously exhausted.  
  
"You should get it and go to bed-"  
  
Thomas rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I know, I'm just getting the cloth and heading to bed, I gotta get up early anyway-"  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Mom, Leo, Joan, Valerie and some others are coming over to check on me at around eight, which means I need to get up early to clean, 'cause let's face it, the place is a mess"  
  
And indeed it was, there were empty bags chips and crumpled up paper just lying around, the dishes weren't done and haven't been done since the incident, the pile was quite menacing.  
  
The floor seemed sticky, the furniture was dusty and in need of a polish, the many pictures were smudged, the tablecloth hadn't been changed for a while.  
  
Prince could practically see the cobwebs over on the cupboards and it was night. Yeah the house really needed a good cleaning.  
  
The personality whistled, "You’d have to get up at five to manage this-"  
  
Thomas sighed, he was not a morning person, but be didn't want his friends and family to worry more about him because his place was messy.  
  
"I'll help"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said I'll help, and the other two won't mind either, that will probably cut an hour down, so you could sleep till six-"  
  
"That literally gives me _less_ than two hours of sleep-"  
  
"Better than an hour or less", shrugged the personality.  
  
"True, I'll need the helping hand-"  
  
"And so will Anxiety, he's still sick so one of us will need to check up on him from time to time-"  
  
"Yeah, we can work in shifts"  
  
"That would be the best course of action, yes"  
  
There was silence, Prince face was strangely vacant, his voice and eyes seemed far off, as if his mind was preoccupied by something else.  
  
Thomas guessed it was probably Anxiety, the two had bonded a bit after the whole 'Dark side of Disney' thing and a bit more before the incident.  
  
Prince's face formed what the manifestor  knew was no doubt a guilty frown, there was _enough_ guilt for today he decided, so with that, the host made sure to snap the personality out of that frame of thought.  
  
" _So_ …what's going on with the reading?"  
  
The personality shrugged. His eyes snapping back from the odd trance he was in seconds ago.  
  
"I'm not sure, I woke up when Anxiety reached the top of the stairs-"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Mhm, almost missed him with all that black"  
  
"Oh right, he practically blends in-ah wait...that still doesn't explain you and the book"  
  
"Oh, right! I figured that Anxiety just wanted to check on you, all things considered with yesterday, so I didn't stop him, but then I couldn't go back to sleep so I found this book in the far corner of the couch, it's quite interesting"  
  
"Uhuh, what's it called?"  
  
"I have no idea"  
  
"What? How can you _not_ know the title?"  
  
Prince shrugged.  
  
"It's dark and the even with my phone's light the words are in an Old English like font and I can't make them out without turning up the brightness"

 

 

"Oh", Thomas smiled a little, realising that the regal personality was kind enough to make sure that even though he couldn't sleep, Logic and Morality could. But then again, those two looked like they could sleep through a storm and not budge.  
  
At that moment, Morality made an odd noise, causing Prince and Thomas to look over to the sleeping pair on the couch.  
  
It was somewhere between a snore, a snort, and a yawn, don't ask how but he did, the parent then pulled Logic closer on his chest and the teacher in turn, curled around him.  
  
The host and Personality chuckled at the cute scene. As much as the manifestor wanted to go to them and remove their glasses, he was more afraid of waking them, they both looked so exhausted.  
  
He knew why Morality was tired, the deep emotion had been dealing with him, _but what happened out here with Prince, Logic and Anxiety?  
_  
Well there was only one personality awake, so he asked.  
  
_"Hey Prince"  
_

 

* * *

  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, I still don't know what Logic told him, but it seems the altercation has resolved itself, for now at least"  
  
Thomas frowned.  
  
He had told the manifestor all he knew, which really in this case wasn't much, but it counted as something.  
  
"I knew they weren't...” the host paused, making a hand gesture, "on the best of terms, but I didn't think it would have ever escalated"  
  
Prince nodded in agreement.  
  
"But they resolved the problem it seems-"  
  
Thomas _'hmmed'_ , so he put a hand on the manifestor's shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry Thomas, they'll be a bit timid, skirting around the new line they've established, but soon enough they'll be back to their usual banter"  
  
The boy smiled.  
"Yeah", he looked towards the sleeping teacher, "I think they will".  
  
With a small smile and some surprising stealth, Thomas strode up behind the occupied couch, he had spotted the blue cloth from afar, solitary in its corner.  
  
The only thing stopping him from just grabbing it was that the legs of both Logic and Morality were crossed over each other's making a diamond like cage for the cold cloth.  
  
Carefully, he stretched over the back of the couch, _he dare not tread through the tangle of limbs at the front_ and slowly reached- Morality twitched, leg kicking out slightly.  
  
The manifestor had moved his hand away in time but yet he clutched it to his chest in fright, he only relaxed when he was certain that the Parental personality was still asleep.  
  
Prince rolled his eyes, walked up next to Thomas, and quickly and efficiently reached over the couch and acquired the cloth without a hitch. Smiling he gave it to his host.  
  
"Show off", grinned the other as he took it.  
  
"Always", winked the fanciful personality.  
  
Thomas chuckled quietly, then made his way upstairs. But before he could reach the first step, Prince stopped him, with a hug.  
  
"I'm glad you're ok"  
  
The manifestor wasted no time in hugging him back. They pulled away after a few seconds.  
  
"Now go to sleep-", the personality ruffled his host's hair, "before you end up with bags that can rival Anxiety's"  
  
Thomas laughed a bit, "Nah, that's his thing, goodnight Prince"  
  
"Good morning Thomas, it isn't called **_A.M_** for nothing"  
  
The manifestor was already up half of the stairs when he turned and smirked.  
  
"Yeah well, if I don't see the sun then it's night, so goodnight Prince"  
  
The Regal personality waved him off with a chuckle.

 

* * *

  
  
At the top of the stairs, the first thing Thomas did was head to the bathroom, wetting the cloth with cold water before ringing it out and carrying over to his room.  
  
The he gently placed the cold cloth on Anxiety's forehead. The personality frowned in his sleep, his nose scrunched up slightly, before he finally relaxed to the _soothing_ cold.  
  
Thomas smiled, before climbing onto the other side of the bed, the second his head met the pillow, **_he was out.  
_**

 

* * *

  
  
Waking up was _something_ , slowly he lifted his head and stretched out his arm to reach for his phone, it felt like he'd only been asleep for a second. Heaven knows he's not a morning person.

 

His eye-lids were excruciatingly heavy and his eyes threatened to roll back more than once, his mind was practically _begging_ for rest-but the alarm kept persisting.  
  
He reached over to his phone _\- wait, hadn't he done that before? When was his head back on his pillow?_  
  
Grabbing the phone he blinked at the bright screen, it was 6:16am. The first alarm was to wake him up at 6:00. So apparently he pressed snooze, meaning that it took fifteen minutes for the second alarm and he took an extra minute to _actually_ pick up the phone.  
  
That was sixteen minutes wasted- **_the six turned seven_** \- he groaned, seventeen minutes wasted. With self-disappointing sigh escaping his lips, Thomas sat up, he needed to go clean.  
  
He was about to get out of bed when he remembered that Anxiety had fallen asleep about two-three hours prior.  
  
The personality was still curled around the pillow, seeming for all the world, in **_blissful sleep_**. The host carefully crawled over to him, placing a hand on his forehead.  
  
Thomas frowned, sure he didn't expect a miracle, but if the fever would drop a degree or tw-  
  
To his surprise Anxiety stirred, head up with bleary, brown, eyes opened a smidge.  
  
"Thomas?” He croaked, his voice was hoarse, but it sounded more like that of sleep than sickness.  
  
"Yeah, how do you feel?” asked the manifestor as he brushed the stray hairs from the ill personality's face.  
  
Anxiety closed his eyes and leaned to the touch, for some reason Thomas' hand was cool against his clammy skin.  
  
  
" _Sleepy_ ", he mumbled.  
  
  
"You and me both-", muttered the host as he sat back on his knees.  
  
  
"Whyr yu up? 'S erly", the slurred speech was an indication that Anxiety really did **_not_** want to get up. Even more so when he subconsciously clutched the pillow and laid his head back down.  
  
"Gotta clean, the house is a mess-"  
  
"Suks t'be yu-"  
  
"Thanks", deadpanned the host.  
  
Even sick, fevered and sleepy as all hell, Anxiety still managed a mischievous smirk.  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes.  
  
"Wy tho?", The personality reopened his eyes, but with how exhausted he was, it looked like he was squinting at his host  
  
"Mom, Leo, Joan, Talyn, Valerie and some others are coming over to check on me, I didn't tell them and seeing the accident on the news kinda scared them a bit"  
  
"Ah", mumbled Anxiety with a small yawn.  
  
"Yeah, so I'm gonna go down there now, it's already-", he looked at his phone, "6:30!" The boy groaned, "I was supposed to be down there at 6:00"  
  
" _Life_ ", the personality exhaled, a mix between a huff and a tired sigh, as he buried his head further into the cool comfort of the white pillow.  
  
"Anxiety", whined Thomas, said personality in turn yawned again, fighting to reopen his eyes.  
  
"Wen...r they-?"  
  
"They get here at eight-"  
  
"Yu...hav...tym"  
  
"Wow, you must be tired, that's sweet you're trying to help-"  
  
" 'm _tryin_...t' sleep..."  
  
"I should have recorded this, you sound drunk-"  
  
" ** _Hnnn_** ", whined the personality, Thomas was cutting in on his sleep time and the edge of sleep was too close for him to stay awake any longer.  
  
"Alright, alright", chuckled the manifestor, "I'll leave you to sleep, the other three are helping me, so one of us will be checking up on you if you need anything ok?"  
  
"Mhm..."  
  
Anxiety's voice trailed as he drifted off and settled into sleep, although Thomas wanted to do the same, he resisted the urge, he needed to get outside and clean.  
  
Crawling out of bed, he grabbed the cold cloth, headed to the bathroom to re-dampen it before placing it on the sleeping personality's forehead.  
  
Anxiety didn't even stir this time, raspy breaths were slow and surprisingly steady.  
  
_Good, he needs the rest.  
_  
With that done and a time check, Thomas gently closed his room door.

 

* * *

  
  
If upstairs was peaceful, downstairs was the _complete **opposite**.  
  
_ "Prince delete those pictures immediately!"  
  
"Nope, sorry Logic, not 'til I show them to Thomas and Anxiety"  
  
"Prince I swear!"  
  
"Now Logic, swearing isn't nice-"

"Stay out of this Morality!"  
  
"Maybe you should listen to him Logic-"  
  
"Don't you start with me, delete those pictures this instant Prince-"  
  
"No-"

 

Basically Thomas walked in on three of his personalities wrestling for Prince's phone.  
  
They hadn't seen him yet, and the racket they were making was giving him a headache, he didn't know how he couldn't hear them before, but one thing's for certain, _he was putting an end to it._ **_Now_**.  
  
"What is going in on here?"  
  
The proverbial record broke and all three personalities sprang up from their impromptu wrestling match and into a standing position.  
  
Thomas blinked and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose, it was too early for this.

 

* * *

  
  
"Well you were supposed to be here thirty-five minute- correction, thirty-six minutes ago-", called the Teacher in a slightly disappointed tone.  
  
"You could have woken me up, Lo-"  
  
"Actually that's exactly what Logic wanted to do, but Prince said not to-"  
  
"Dad's right, I told them not to wake you-"  
  
"Why-?"  
  
"Because you needed your sleep son-"  
  
"-2.45 hours is not nearly enough to sustain you, especially with all the tasks you'll be doing today, not to mention you still have to deal with the surplus interactions of family and friends-"  
  
" _Ugh_ , talking about it is only making me more tired Logic", Thomas groaned, dropping his head in his hand, the headache was starring to do the weird throbbing thing and he wanted nothing more than to sleep it off.  
  
"We _did_ pick up the stuff that was on the floor-"  
  
"Morality is right, all that's left is the sweeping, the dusting, mopping, changing the curtains, there's the laundry you still have yet to do, changing the table cloth-"  
  
"I know Logic, I know, it's just-ugh-this is going to take _foreverrr_ "  
  
"Come on Thomas, all you need to do is," he paused to inhale, "whistle while you wor~"  
  
" **No**!" The other three cut Prince's singing before he could get started.  
  
The Royal personality frowned and crossed his arms.  
  
" ** _Rude_** ", he muttered.  
  
Logic rolled his eyes, took out his phone and hit play.  
  
Thomas blinked.  
  
"Is that from Lala land?"  
  
"Yes it is", replied the Teacher with a nod.  
  
"Cool!"

* * *

  
  
"Prince **stop** staring at your reflection and finish polishing!"  
  
"Well excuse me Thomas, at least I'm actually doing something what are the other two even doing?"  
  
The manifestor was in the kitchen doing dishes, Morality right across from him cooking something on the stove.  
  
Logic was behind Prince in the living room.  
  
"I dusted! And now I'm making breakfast!"' Shouted Morality.  
  
"And _I_ swept and changed the table cloth", the Teacher had his arms crossed  
  
"I'm still doing dishes but I already got a load in the wash", commented Thomas with a bit of a snicker.  
  
Prince pouted and continued dusting.

 

* * *

  
  
"I'm exhausted!” Thomas groaned as he flopped onto the couch, left arm covering his eyes, while his right was over his stomach.  
  
Morality peered over him.  
  
"Look on the bright side there kiddo, your all finished-"  
  
"True but he still needs to shower, it's currently 7:33am, and it's likely that someone will come early, so it's best you hurry"  
  
_Annnd_ there was Logic.  
  
Moving his arm Thomas looked to Prince, who was standing not far off. The Royal personality just shrugged.  
  
Thomas deadpanned.  
  
Everyone else pointed to the stairs.  
  
Rolling his eyes the manifestor huffed, and went upstairs to get clean.

The second he was gone, Prince frowned.  
  
"You think we should tell him?"  
  
"No, he'll only worry about it, he'll be preoccupied with family and friends, he can't have this additional stress on him"  
  
"Are you sure Logic? He doesn't realize it now, but having all four of us out, for this long, it's a toll on his energy, plus Anxiety's sick so he **_needs_** more-"  
  
"True, he probably takes it subconsciously and even then it's still not enough, the rest of us are holding off, but we can't hold off for long, you of all of us knows how it feels to **_give and not take_** -"  
  
"I know", Prince sighed, placing a hand to his temple, "the energy drainage is dreadful but then there's Thomas- _it's  four of us_ , the amount of energy we would need to take from him could drop him unconscious on the spot-"  
  
"Or put him in a small coma-"

  
  
**"Stop it"**

 

Both Teacher and Royal jumped, Morality's voice had none of its usual cheeriness, instead it was so stern and serious, that even _Logic_ had to take a step back.  
  
"He's **not** going to fall in a coma, Thomas will be fine, he'll be tired today, so when he comes back we let him rest, cancel whatever plans he had for tomorrow and let him sleep in, tonight we each take half of the energy we need and tomorrow we take the other half, he'll be fine-"  
  
Prince but in.  
  
"And what about Anxiety? He's slowly draining Thomas without him knowing it-"  
  
"Yes, but he needs just enough energy to sink down into the mindscape, we're supposed to be on shifts for Anxiety right? In that case we should stay back until it's time to check on him, this puts less strain on Thomas and saves some of our energy-"  
  
" _Ok_...", started Prince, "What if by tomorrow Anxiety still doesn't have enough energy to return, Thomas won't be able t-"  
  
"In that case, one of us stays with Anxiety while Thomas sleeps, the other two will take half of the original half of energy-"  
  
"You mean a quarter", stated Logic.  
  
The Parent gave Logic a small nod, "yes, now the next day one of the others will switch with whoever took that shift and we'll do this until Anxiety's back on his feet, or at least in his own bed".

With that Morality turned around and headed upstairs.  
  
"Where are you going?" Called the Teacher.  
  
"To give Anxiety some breakfast, he hasn't eaten since yesterday"  
  
During their entire conversation neither Prince nor Logic noticed Morality holding a plate of beans, bread and scrambled eggs in one hand, and a glass of orange juice in the other.  
  
Not once had Morality's tone changed, the firm seriousness remained and both of the personalities in the living room were left blinking.  
  
They looked at each other.  
  
" ** _Never mess with a worried parent_** ", they chuckled at their simultaneousness, but the laughter fell flat.

  
  
Morality came back down after about three minutes, frowning, the plate was still full but at least the Orange juice was gone.  
  
"I'll just give it to Thomas, he hasn't eaten yet either", mumbled Dad.

 

* * *

  
  
When the manifestor came out of the shower, the first thing he did was eat, while the other three, _well two_ , told him the plan for the day, Morality was offside frowning at something.  
  
That was strange for the usually happy personality but Thomas ignored the Parent, he was probably in one of his moods.  
  
"Ok, what’s the plan? When the others come I'll be gone, so who's staying with Anxiety?"  
  
"We're going on shifts, Morality already checked on him while you were in the shower, Prince will help him during lunc-", the Teacher's explanation was cut off by Prince.  
  
"Actually, you're helping him with lunch Logic-"  
  
" _What_? No, I was supposed to get last shift-"  
  
"You need to talk him-", the Royal crossed his arms.  
  
"But-"  
  
"Prince is right Logic, and maybe you can get him to eat"  
  
Thomas jumped, there were very few times Morality was ever this serious and those only lasted a few seconds.  
  
Gulping a bit the host asked an obvious question.  
  
"He won't eat? Why?"  
  
Dad sighed, rubbing an eye from beneath his glasses, "He's tired, the fever and the stress of yesterday's taking a toll on him"  
  
All four remained silent for a moment.

 

* * *

  
  
"How will this work? I'll be gone so if you sink down, you're coming with me, how are you guys going to watch over Anxiety?"  
  
The manifestor was wide-eyed, realization hit him hard, he'd be leaving one of his personalities behind, and **_a sick one no less_**.  
  
He was a host, sure he didn't know all the nitty-gritty rules, but he knew one thing, it was his duty to ensure that his personalities were alright and leaving a sick one behind was probably not following any of those rules-.  
  
"Simple", said Prince, cutting him from his thoughts. The fanciful personality was holding his phone up, "with this", he then placed it in a secluded corner of the counter, "as long as we have something that we're attached to here, we can pop up next to it"

 

"Oh ok", _good Anxiety wouldn't be left alone_ , he himself hated being alone when he was sick. "And what about you two?"  
  
Thomas turned to face Morality and Logic.  
  
"Where going to clean up-", piped Dad, some of the cheer bubbling back up in his tone.  
  
"What? But the house is-"  
  
"The outside your mind is clean, the inside? _Eh_ , not so much"  
_  
Oh, there he is_ , Morality wasn't smiling and his face was strangely neutral, but his eyes had back that twinkle they were known for. _Who would have guessed it could’ve ever been hidden?_ Truly seriousness wasn't fitting for the Parental personality.  
  
"We may have made a mess looking for Anxiety yesterday", explained Logic with a small incline of his head, then he jutted out his thumb, "you can blame Dad over here for that"  
  
Morality shrugged, _and **now** he was smiling._  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes, but only to cover up his sigh of relief.  
  
There was only a split second before the doorbell rang.  
  
"7:52, good timing", commented Logic before he and Morality sank down.  
  
"We'll take care of him Thomas", said Prince, he then pushed the boy towards the door, before smiling and sinking down.  
  
With a small smile Thomas opened the door.  
  
Instantly he was brought into a group hug, for once he was glad Anxiety was sick and asleep, _this much contact at once?_ If the personality was in control he'd probably be uncomfortable and anxious and that would have just made things worse.  
  
So without the threat of a mini panic attack in the back of his mind, Thomas relished the hug, stepped outside and locked the door.

* * *

  
  
It was almost 11:00pm when the Manifestor came home.  
  
Not a second after he stepped inside, a slightly damp Prince popped up to greet him.  
   
"Hey Thomas how was it?"  
  
"It was fun, mom did take me to get a check-up at the doctors though", the Host raised his left hand, showing off his new pristine white bandages.  
  
"It wasn't deep enough for stitches and the doctor even said that it may not leave a scar-"  
  
"-Oh that's great, anything else?!"  
  
"Hey Morality, oh and hi Logic"  
  
Dad smiled and The Teacher gave a small nod as they popped up behind Prince.  
  
"Salutations Thomas, I take it things went well-?"  
  
Logic paused, the manifestor was looking at them strangely.  
  
"I get how Prince came up, but what about you two? You didn't leave anything to tie yourselves to the house-"  
  
" _Actually_ , that's not true", smiled Morality, "I left my cardigan in behind the chair at the kitchen table", the Parental personality quickly retrieved said piece of clothing and held it up to show the others, smile brining across his cheeks. "And as for Logic I just dragged him with me-"  
  
"Wait, you left one here and put on another?" The Regal personality asked, gesturing to the cardigan Morality had on.  
  
"Well I wouldn't be me without it"  
  
The others shrugged.  
  
**_"Fair enough"  
_**  
"But do continue with your day Thomas, we'd like to hear what happened", of course that Logic, he was always the one who stayed on track.  
  
"Oh right, um it was great, except Valerie had to leave at around eight so Joan walked her home-"  
  
"Quite the good friend" remarked Prince.  
  
Thomas chuckled, "Yeah they are and mom brought me home 'early' because me and Leo we're dozing off in the car, pics are going to be all over my Instagram tomorrow I swear", the others rolled their eyes at the host, that is until he muttered under his breath, _"stupid medicine"  
_  
"Thomas", started Morality, "what medicine?"  
  
"Oh right, after the check-up they took me to get a small therapy session, the therapist was cool, he said I was doing exceptionally well for someone who went through my experience-"  
  
"So why the medicine then?" Asked Prince.  
  
"He said that sometimes the "trauma" shows up later and it's a just in case, but really it's to help me sleep and relax, I'm too tense? Apparently?"  
  
"He's not wrong-"  
  
"Logic!"  
  
"What, it's the truth!"  
  
Thomas rolled his eyes at the Teacher but he knew that it was all in good fun.  
  
"Ok, we know why you were tired, but what happened with Leo?"  
  
As Morality spoke, he watched his host's face fall.

 

"Uh, he was the first one I called after I got home the day the car flipped, his phone went to voice mail and he realised it and he said he felt guilty- I did tell him it was alright but... he stayed up all night worrying-"  
  
"You called Leo?", interrupted Logic.  
  
"No actually, Anxiety did, my hands were shaking so bad- wait, how is Anxiety? You all went on shifts right?"  
  
"Yes we did, I got him to eat lunch, he didn't eat all but he did eat most of it", explained the Teacher.  
  
"I got him to eat dinner", Piped Morality.  
  
"And I checked on him every hour, he was ok before I took a shower. He said he was a bit dizzy but that was all and he could handle it, so I was going to check on him right after I finished but you came in-"  
  
**_'THUD!!'  
_**  
Princey cut himself off, wide-eyed he looked at the others, _the sound came from upstairs.  
  
_ Instantly the four ran up the flight, it wasn't hard to find Anxiety, he was in the bathroom, the sound of retching was hard to miss.

* * *

  
  
Somehow Thomas had gotten there first, the youngest personality was hunched over the bowl, retching, coughing and gagging, it wasn't a pretty sight.  
  
The manifestor made to go forward but he found himself stepping back-when the personality finally stopped gagging and pulled back-the host's eyes widened-Anxiety's lips were stained _red_.  
  
Morality pulled Thomas outside and into a hug, wordlessly taking the ends of the cardigan, that he usually wore around his shoulders, to wipe some of the tears that fell from his eyes. The boy didn't even realize he was crying.

  
Suddenly Anxiety swayed, Logic quickly moved in to stabilize him, but the darker personality flinched violently at the contact and threw up some more.  
  
Seeing as he could do nothing, the Teacher made way for Prince to come in before walking out and heading downstairs.  
  
Prince slowly and carefully convinced his opposite to lean on him. The Royal then got some toilet paper and help the other wipe his mouth.  It was then Logic came back with a water bottle and handed it to Prince, before stepping next to Morality and Thomas.

 

* * *

  
  
After helping Anxiety rinse, the younger practically collapsed on him. Which in turn brought him from his knees to his behind, with Anxiety now curled on his lap, Prince internally thanked the heavens that Thomas had cleaned the bathroom earlier or things would have been a lot less sanitary and he'd have to burn his white suit.  
  
All four of them barley held back a gasp when the now unconscious boy coughed, _his lips were a bright crimson.  
_  
They looked at Anxiety and then at each other, all thinking the same thing.  
  
**_Anxiety was getting worse._**

 

* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay, there you go guys, I did war you that Anxiety was still sick. The last chapter just like the rest of them was met with so much positivity and I thank you guys so much for that, your comments are the best and because y’all actually take your time to comment I’ll start doing a thing called “The Comment of the Week”. If you’re comment pertaining to the chapter, _of any chapter_ , can make me bust out laughing, it’s definitely gonna get a shout out. It’s also called ‘comment of the week’, because I do in fact update every week, I just don’t know what days XD. **

**Comment of the Week: “** **STOP MAKING ME CRY. MY EYES HAVE BETRAYED ME** **”**

**See y’all next time and let’s see what you got for me in the comments ;)**

**Also special thanks to MoriTiAmore for making some art:"Napping prince and anxiety" by MoriTiAmore on Wattpad http://my.w.tt/UiNb/ND7IOgxNsB**

**If any of you want to do the same feel free and I’ll fangirl about it for like ever XD**


	10. Still

His lips, they were as red as Prince's sash, he only coughed once; then he stilled. 

 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety went limp and Prince tightened his grip on the younger, he could hardly hear his raspy breaths.  
  
Hands now shaking, the fanciful personality grabbed a bit more toilet paper and wiped the crimson stain from his counterpart's parted lips.  
  
"B-bring him to my room", Thomas' voice was shaking worse than the Royal's hands.  
  
It was obvious why the manifestor said this, they had no choice in the matter. No one knew how bad of a state Anxiety was in, so moving him down to the couch was a no go, that and he was in Thomas' room before and it was far closer.  
  
However, just before Prince could move, Anxiety coughed again. There was no blood this time.  
  
But his body seized.

 

* * *

  
  
Morality jumped.  
  
He didn't expect Thomas to speak, the poor boy, seeing his youngest manifestation this ill was really hitting him hard.   
  
Of course it hurt him too but he needed to maintain composure, it would do no one any good for him to panic as well.  
  
All those thoughts and emotions fled from his mind the moment when Anxiety seized. No one else was moving, so he took action immediately, sure he was considered a joke of a Dad, but at the end of the day he was a father and good parents always take care of their children, no matter what.  
  
"Easy there kiddo"

 

* * *

  
  
Prince gaped, one second he had an absolutely still Anxiety and in the next, the younger was curling and practically clawing onto him, desperately trying to breathe.  
  
The darker personality's pitiful gasps for breath were _heart breaking_. He wanted nothing more than to try to comfort the younger but he didn't know what to do.  
  
It was when Morality stepped up from behind Thomas...he had to blink.  
  
Dad quickly grabbed Anxiety's head, keeping it steady, his knees pressed down on the younger's legs, to keep them still.   
  
Slowly he moved, gently placing one hand on Anxiety's forehead and one on the other's curled and gasping chest.  
  
"Easy there kiddo"  
  
He wiped the sweaty bangs from the younger's face.  
  
"You're ok, we got you, just try to breath"  
  
Morality spoke calmly and gently, even while Anxiety's body continued shuddering and squirming.  
  
"Come on, slow breaths, slow breaths"  
  
He kept talking, whispering reassuring words to the younger.  
  
Surprisingly, it **_worked_**.  
  
After a good ten minutes Anxiety stilled against him once more, his breathing was raspy but slow and his shaking hands remained clutching on to his red sash.  
Prince blinked again as Morality removed the cardigan from off his shoulders and draped it over Anxiety, it took the royal a few seconds to realize that his counterpart was shivering.  
  
"The fever went up"  
Morality's voice rang out, thick, quiet and somber.  
  
They all swallowed thickly.   
  
The air was so tense with worry and fear, someone could have could it with a knife.  


 

* * *

  
  
_They moved.  
_  
Prince, with Morality hovering at his side, carefully carried Anxiety to the bedroom.  
  
Thomas ran to a closet to get a thick quilt, leaving Logic alone in the bathroom to clean up the mess.  
  
Actually there wasn't really a mess, all the Intellectual personality had to do was flush the toilet, he wiped clean the seat for good measure.  
  
With that done, he went downstairs to retrieve a bucket and fill a couple of water bottles.

 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety was shivering, yet sweat trickled down his forehead, his hair was almost completely plastered to his head.  
  
The fashion side of Prince questioned how even when plastered down, the younger's hair still looked messy.  
  
Of course the Royal pushed back that part of him and easily set down the ill personality, on the bed- well, he **_tried_** to.  
  
Anxiety, like the first two times, clung to him. All of them had short nails yet Prince could swear his counterpart had claws. Resigning himself to his rightful position as a pillow, the fanciful personality sighed and lowered onto the bed, adjusting himself and Anxiety comfortably.   
  
Morality, already knowing that Prince was officially the younger's teddy bear, simply draped the quilt over them. Dad took great care, making sure he covered Anxiety as best he could without covering the younger's unconscious face.

 

Logic came in with some cold water bottles and even an ice pack. Thomas wasted no time and quickly placed the pack on Anxiety's forehead.

 

As the darker personality was curled up against Prince, when Thomas placed the ice pack it slid slightly onto the Royal's chest and the sharp biting cold of the ice caused both the fanciful and the unconscious personality to wince.

 

The manifestor gave both Prince and Anxiety a grimace of apology, even though the latter would not be able to see it.

 

* * *

 

 

The host was exhausted, he wasn't going to lie or bother denying it, all the stress of the day, the week and heck even the week prior, was taking quite the toll on him.

 

It was a good hour-hour and a half after Anxiety had calmed and Morality had practically tucked him and Prince in, _he smiled a bit at the moment_ , the silence then became deafening, even with all five of them in one room, it felt **empty**.

 

So Thomas went to shower and get changed, before crawling into bed, he made sure to stay directly next to Anxiety and Prince by proxy.

 

Morality sat on the bed beside him, occasionally the father would pat his shoulders or run a hand through his hair.

 

The host figured the Parent simply wanted something to do with his hands and quite frankly that was fine by him, it was nice? Comforting... it made him feel...sleepy....

 

His body demanded rest, twice as bad as this morning, _oh right, he only got about 2-3 hours of sleep_ , to make things worse, the medicine the Therapist gave him made him drowsy.

 

He was falling asleep in the car and now he was battling with his eye-lids.

 

**_He was so tired._ **

****

"-omas"

"Thomas"

 

The host jumped, eyes snapping open... only to almost instantly close. Fighting, he opened them a smidge and directed them to the one who spoke.

 

"Go to sleep, son-"

 

"But-"

 

"Those are for sitting", of course Morality would cut him off with a joke, only, _the father wasn't smiling_. "You need your rest Thomas, go to sleep, we'll wake you if anything, I promise"

 

Dad held out his pinky, there were so many reasons why he didn't want to sleep, but he was _so tired_...

Slowly Thomas curled his pinky finger around Morality's, the pinky promise was sealed and the Parent smiled.

 

It wasn't his usual smile though, the boy could easily see that one twinge of a muscle would turn that smile into a grimace, **_Dad was worried._**

 

The manifestor's eyes then drifted almost lazily toward Logic and Prince, the worry was far more apparent on them. Thomas sighed, a small one, they were already worried about one, it made no sense to have them worry about him too.

 

So with a resigned nod, he scooted closer to Anxiety and closed his eyes, if anything were to happen, he'd be the first to know, the others would tell him, _right_?

 

* * *

 

Logic bit his lip, Thomas was exhausted and yet he fought to stay awake.

 

This wasn't good, Anxiety became worse somehow and Morality was worried, enough so to instruct their host to sleep.

 

Really it was better that way, they'd have one less person to worry about. Honestly he hated this, he would prefer worrying over making tests and returning them at a deadline than this, he'd prefer to read over terribly written stories and essays, filled with grammatical errors and worse, _run on sentences._

He'd prefer dealing with any other emotion- as a matter of fact he'd prefer to deal with emotions other than this, he'd prefer all the things he hated, than to deal with this.

 

He'd prefer-

_He'd prefer anything than remembering how Anxiety flinched away from him when he was trying to help._

 

* * *

 

Prince didn't know what to do, Anxiety was still shivering, albeit slightly, in his grasp. Thomas was fighting off sleep until Dad told him not to. Now they were left with two asleep and three in all different states of worry.

 

And as usual he felt clueless, he hated this, if it was a dragon, a witch or a dragon witch, he could kill it no problem, but what could he possibly do to help?

 

There had to be something he coul- _an idea struck him_ , **_perfect_**.

 

* * *

 

Morality didn't like this one bit, sure Thomas finally fell asleep, but he could still see Anxiety shivering under the quilt, the fever had risen so high, so suddenly, _could he be fading right before their very eye-?  
  
_ Before he could finish his strangely morbid thoughts, the Parent was distracted by a lovely tune.  
  
Prince was humming, nice, sweet and low, if it was a Disney song, he wasn't sure, but whatever song it was the Regal personality turned it into a lullaby.  
  
Morality gave him a smile, in turn Princey nodded and continued the tune. Dad sighed softly, everything was ok for now, he looked to his counterpart, just in time to see Logic look at him.  
  
He also gave the Teacher a smile and received a nod from him aswell. With everyone's nerves easing a bit, Morality allowed himself to get lost in the tune.

 

* * *

  
  
It was sometime around 2:30am when the tune finally trailed. Prince was nodding off, well on his way to sleep.  
  
The Royal jolted slightly when he realized, picking up the tune right where he left off. Both Logic and Morality had to admit, it _was_ an impressive feat.  
  
But when the tune trailed off again after fifteen minutes and Prince's head met his chest for the second time, he adults decided to step in.  
  
Morality carefully moved from beside Thomas to stand next to Prince and Logic.  
  
"Princey, just go to sleep-"  
  
"...can't", he mumbled, his eyes were literally closing on him.  
  
"Why not? You're obviously tired", the fanciful personality's stubbornness confused the Teacher greatly.  
  
"I...have to...'m helping..."  
  
"What do you mean hel-" Morality cut Logic off, placing a hand to his lips.   
  
**_'Shh'  
_**  
"I know you were helping, and you were wonderful, but you need to sleep-"  
  
"...but...help..."  
  
"You want to help?"  
  
Prince nodded sleepily at Morality, he was so far gone, the poor Disney lover probably wouldn't even remember this in the morning.   
  
"Then go to sleep", the Royal looked puzzled, well as puzzled as his half-awake expression would let him seem. "With you asleep it drains less of Thomas' energy"  
  
Prince's eyes slowly scanned his exhausted host, seemingly accepting Morality's logic, he nodded once and his eyes slipped closed. His head fell to his chest, but not once did he let go of Anxiety.  
  
Dad, with a small smile on his face, quietly took a pillow from the bed and placed it snugly being Prince's neck, so as to avoid a crick in it. Ever so gently the Parent pulled the younger's legs, pulling him and Anxiety down a bit, Prince was still sitting up of course, but now he could rest nicely on a pillow, which Logic carefully positioned his head there.  
  
  
**_And now there were two.  
_**  
  
Logic jumped a bit seeing the look Morality gave him. He really wasn't used to the Parent being this serious.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Morality pouted.  
  
"You know very well that leaving an object of ours in the physical plane and popping up next to it drains a ton of energy-"  
  
"I'm aware, energy is taken to keep the object in the physical plane and summoning oneself constantly does drain you but what-"  
  
"Prince was taking more shifts than the both of us, he was up and down in both the mindscape and with Anxiety here, he's exhausted!"  
  
Morality crossed his arms and the Teacher followed.  
  
"I get that Morality, I was simply asking how he thought he was hel-"  
  
"He was filling in the **_silence_** , Logic!"   
  
Said personality took a small step back at Dad's outburst, of course it was whisper-yelled but still.  
  
The Parent sighed, rubbing his face from beneath his glasses.  
  
"We're all worried, and his tune was a welcome distraction, worrying in silence is never a good thing"  
  
Logic opened his mouth to say something, but resigned closing his mouth with small nod of semi-understanding.  
  
Dad sighed once more.  
  
"Sorry", he mumbled.  
  
"It's fine", said the Teacher as he sat down on the bed and gently brushed some stray hairs from Princey's sleeping face.  
  
Morality raised a brow.  
  
"What? You know how he hates when his hair is messed up"  
  
The Parent smiled.   
  
The silence didn't seem so deafening now.  
  
Carefully he crawled back to his place beside Thomas. The rise and fall of the sleeping trio's chests was surprisingly calming.  
  
Quietly both the Parent and Teacher watched the other three sleep, if it weren't for the scare Anxiety gave them earlier it would have been a cute scene.  
  
But both were still worried about Anxiety's state.  
  
_Could he possibly fade?_  


 

* * *

  
  
The Teacher internally sighed when Morality made his way back to where he was before, right at Thomas' side, leaving him next to Prince and Anxiety.   
  
The younger two were deeply asleep and so was their host for that matter, Dad took it on himself to play with Thomas' hair.   
  
_Can't **you** do something useful?_  
  
He was starting to see the Parent's point, worrying in silence really wasn't a good idea.  
  
He had thought they made amends, sure he didn't expect them just to forgive and forget. That was an impossible feat, no one ever forgets, but he should have expected not to be forgiven.   
  
_It would have been beneath the surface right?  
_  
**Or it should have been.  
**  
Anxiety could hate him in secret and that would have been fine by him, he deserved that, but to downright flinch away.  
  
Of course it wasn't the younger's fault, he was ill and expecting Logic to bring him more pain, after all, the Teacher had hurt him before.  
  
Even when he tried to make amends, he failed, he couldn't help Anxiety, he didn't even speak to Thomas, that was Prince and Morality.  
  
And speaking of both, the Parent had to hush him before he unwittingly offended the Royal, whom by the way was actually helping, something he had yet to do-  
  
"Logic?"  
  
The Teacher blinked and turned to Morality, there was a worried look glinting in the Parental's eye.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"Hmm? I'm fine, I was just thinking-"  
  
"For over an hour? You didn't even blink"  
  
"Uh, wha-?"  
  
"You've been silently staring at the bedhead  for so long I though you fell asleep with your eyes open-"  
  
"I do not possess the ability to-"  
  
"I know Logic, I was just asking, I meant-", Morality cut himself off with a sigh, running his hand under his glasses, seems like he's been doing that a lot today. "Penny for your thoughts?" He said finally after removing his hand from his face.  
  
"I...well...uh-", he shook his head, he couldn't do it, the Teacher couldn't form the words he thought into coherent sentences, they just... _didn't make sense.  
  
_ "You really can't deal with emotions, can you?"  
  
"It's...not my forte"  
  
"Well it _is_ mine, try me, I'll see if I can help"  
  
"That's just _it_ "  
  
"What?"  
  
"You help, Prince, Thomas, you're all helping and I've done nothi-"  
  
"Logic, you've done plenty-"  
  
"Like what? Flush the toilet and grab some water bottles? That's hardly anything to be proud of-"  
  
"Logic", Morality's tone changed, it became stern, just like this morning,  
"it's not about pride-"   
  
"I know that, I just... _I'm **not** doing anything_ "  
  
Instantly the Parent's voice softened.  
  
"And that's ok, you said it yourself, this isn't your forte-"  
  
"It's still a basic principality, yet I can't understand-"  
  
"It feels like a jumbled mess of I want to but I can't and I can but I don't know how?", supplied Morality with a knowing look  
  
"Uh, yes", Logic was dumb founded.  
  
"That's because they're emotions and that's _my_ forte, it's not easy", he looked at the sleeping three and the Teacher followed suit, "but it's worth it", he looked back to Logic and gave him a small smile.  
  
The intellectual found himself smiling as well, Morality's ability to just understand was amazing, he truly cared for each one of them, Logic admired that.  
  
" _Mhng_ "  
  
The moment was broken and both Teacher and Parent turned to the sound.

 

* * *

  
  
He had absolutely no idea what happened. The entire day was just a blurred mess in his mind.  
  
The first thing he remembered was his conversation with Thomas early in the morning, something about him and _cleaning_?  
  
Then Dad came in with food. It took some convincing to get the Oldman to let him skip breakfast, but he did drink the orange juice, to make the guy feel better, Morality's frowns were trippy.  
  
He remembered falling asleep right after and waking up to Logic with another plate of food. He ate some, what it was he couldn't remember, hell he couldn't remember if he even spoke to Logic.

 

The Teacher did speak to him though, he had mentioned that Princey came to check up on him a couple hours after breakfast.  
  
He probably nodded at the elder personality, if not...oh well, he fell asleep again and woke up to Prince with Dinner.  
  
It was just a grill cheese and some milk, he was very thankful for a light meal, lunch was far too heavy and he wasn't moving so that made it worse.  
  
At this point his head was spinning, he told this to the Royal when the other had him if asked if he was ok. He remembered telling him that he could handle it, he'd just sleep it off.  
  
And really he did, only to "wake up" about twenty minutes later. His body moved before his mind caught up, it was a miracle he didn't crash-  
  
He hit a wall and fell to the floor with a **_THUD_**.  
  
His body was still moving on auto-pilot, crawling at a speed that, in any other case, would certainly make him look possessed.  
  
He was vaguely aware that he could see his reflection in the tiles, it was not pretty. What was even uglier was the fact that in mere  seconds his head was in the toilet  and he was heaving out his Dinner and probably his lunch, it was a good thing he didn't eat breakfast-no, no, the orange juice was there too, wonderful.  
  
His vision, whatever limited version he had of it, became spotted and something? Someone? Came up to him too fast and he flinched.  
  
His body decided that flinching was a signal to throw up some more and so he did.   
  
Through his now blurred vision, he realized he was laying on something red  
....and white, bright white....it was _warm_.  
  
**Prince** , was the first person he thought of, his exhausted eyes following the white, looking for a familiar face in all the brightness.  
  
He wasn't in the bathroom anymore, that he knew for sure, but where ever he was, he felt numb and heavy, his only option was to follow the white.  
  
And groaning at the brightness, he did just that.  
  
"-xiety"  
"-nxiety"  
"Anxiety can you hear me?"  
  
"If he could, he'd have woken by now, he probably had a nightmare, he only stirred"  
  
"No, look, his eyes are moving, he's trying to wake up!"  
  
"Morality-"  
  
"Kiddo, if you can hear me, nod your head ok?"  
  
"Look Logic, his eyes are trying to open"  
"Right Anxiety? Come on big guy, you can do it, open your eyes"  
  
He was trying to, Morality's voice was ringing in his head, but his eyes were _so_ heavy.  
  
"Anxiety, keep trying"  
  
_Funny, at one point he had forgotten his own name.  
_  
"Anx-"  
  
"Morality, he isn't awake-"  
  
"He is, he's just being stubborn"  
"Anxiety, come on"  
  
The darker personality could hear the tinge of desperation in Dad's voice, so he tried his best to open his eyes.  
  
The lids would not give and he groaned in frustration.  
  
"Now, now, none of that, try again Kiddo"  
  
"He **_is_** awake"  
  
The sound of Logic's surprise came from somewhere at his right.  
  
"I told you, he was, his eyes must just be heavy"  
  
"Come on Anxiety, you gotta keep trying"  
  
Dad's voice was on his left and full of hope, how could he deny the Oldman? That worried frown he had, when he brought breakfast, it didn't suit the happy-go-lucky personality at all.  
  
So with all he could muster, Anxiety pried his eyes open, well he tried to, his eye lashes separated from each other _painfully slow_.  


 

* * *

  
  
Bleary brown eyes opened in a squint and instantly he was greeted with a Morality in his face and a still surprised Logic off to the side.  
  
"Aaay, you did it!"  
  
"Keep it down Morality, you're going to wake Thomas and-"  
  
"He's right, you're going to wake Thomas"  
  
Anxiety jumped at Prince's voice, he almost forgot that he was laying on the Royal. He tried to inch his way off but the fanciful personality held him in place with a gentle hand.  
  
"How do you feel?" He asked.  
  
Anxiety relaxed against Prince before he answered. Now that he was awake he could see where everyone was.  
  
He was leaning on Prince, _he'll be embarrassed about it later_ , Logic was standing off to his right, Thomas was curled around his left like a baby koala and in the small triangle wedge between him and Prince, was Dad.

 

From here Morality could lean in front of him without disturbing anyone, currently the Parent was sitting back on his knees waiting for him to answer the question.  
  
" _Better_ ", breathed out the youngest personality.  
  
The others blinked.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Anxiety...are you sure? I mean, you certainly weren't better before"  
  
"Well my head isn't spinning and I can see and speak to you all clearly, so yeah Princey, better", he tried to be sarcastic but his voice came out small and weak, the others knew what he meant though.  
  
"Ohh", came the simultaneous murmur from the others.  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes.  
He may or may not have smiled, just a little.

 

* * *

  
  
"Anxiety?"  
  
  
"Yeah?" The darker personality had curled himself further onto Prince, he was still shivering, hell he was shivering when he first woke up but no one really noticed until later.  
  
"Do you...er, that is to say, um-"  
  
Anxiety blinked, this was the first time he'd ever seen the other stumble for  words and the other two beside him would probably agree.  
  
"Just spit it out Logic-"  
  
"You claim to feel better and yet your shivering...", the younger personality blushed a bit, his face then became even darker when Prince wrapped the quilt-the one that was half on him when he woke up-around him and basically cradled him to his chest. Princey was so warm.  
  
"-but of course that is due to your now escalating fever..." Anxiety blinked Logic was still talking.   
  
"So what do you say Anxiety?", Prince was looking down expectantly at him. The youngest personality blinked again, what the heck?  
  
"Yeah kiddo, you up for trying? It'll be easier to help you there than out here", Morality was giving him that encouraging look of his, matched with the exact same tone he used to help him wake up.  
  
The younger blinked again, he missed majority of the question but he understood, they wanted to see if he could sink down and return to the mindscape. He doubted he had enough energy to do it but it couldn't hurt to try.  
  
With a small nod, Anxiety slowly uncurled and unwrapped himself from the quilt, and Prince, then carefully proceeded to remove Thomas from his leg, trying his best to do so without waking the manifestor.  
  
Once freed, he crawled to the edge of the bed, the others moved to give him enough space but when he was about to stand up... _the room **tilted**_.  
  
A low groan slipped from his lips as he felt his shoulder tugged, Prince had caught him before he fell, he blinked up to see all three of the elder personalities above him; all with worried looks on their faces.  
  
"Are you alright?-"  
He couldn't tell who said that, he presumed it was either Prince or Morality.  
  
"I'm ok, I just...moved too fast?", _he didn't even sound convincing to himself.  
  
_ "Take your time, if you can't do this now, we can try again later, does that sound right by you? Anxiety?"  
  
He really must be sick, Logic was the one who had asked him **both** questions.   
  
The youngest nodded once, his vision was blurring and he was still shivering. "Might as well try now before I can't do it later"  
  
He felt Prince's hand on his shoulder, the fanciful personality gave him a reassuring squeeze. With a small exhale of concentration, Anxiety sank down and back into the mindscape.

 

* * *

  
  
"I'm going with him-"  
  
"That's fine and dandy Princey, but you need your rest too, are you sure?"  
  
"I am, but Logic has to come with me-"  
  
"Excuse me, what?" The Teacher furrowed his brow, why would Prince want _him_ to-   
  
"It's just that last time...", the Royal seemed embarrassed, but there was something in his eyes that said otherwise.  
  
Logic's own eyes widened when he realized what it was. Prince was _afraid_ , he didn't want the last time to repeat. Understanding the Teacher nodded, grabbing the quilt and ice pack from off the bed, giving them to the younger with a small smile.  
  
At first Prince was shocked, but that quickly melted into a smile of his own, the Regal one then sank down to Anxiety's room.  
  
Before sinking down himself, Logic turned to Morality. Dad smiled and gave him a thumbs up.  
  
"I'll be staying here with Thomas, you go look after those two"

 

The intellectual personality nodded in agreement and began sinking, but half way through...  
  
"Hey"  
  
He turned.  
  
"You did good Logan"  
  
Dad winked.  
  
Logic smiled and sank down completely, curious as to why his face was heating up, maybe he was developing a fever too?

 

* * *

 

The second Anxiety sank down, he appeared in his room, for that he was thankful, he really didn't have the energy to walk from the commons.  
  
Heck he hardly had enough energy to stand, so he remained kneeling and shivering with blurred vision.  
  
When Prince popped up in Anxiety's room, the younger was kneeling down, shaking his head and blinking rapidly, as if trying his best to clear his vision.  
  
Gently, he draped the quilt over the younger, eased himself onto his counterpart's side and helped him to his feet and to his bed. Of course like the prior times before, he ended up as Anxiety's pillow. This was also the time that Logic appeared.  
  
The Teacher chuckled.  
  
"You know, I'm just accepting it now, I'm a walking, talking, Disney loving pillow", mumbled Prince as he ran a hand through Anxiety's hair, the younger was practically ‘burritoed’ in the quilt, he had slipped right into unconsciousness the moment they reached the bed.  
  
"At least you're a pillow fit for _Royalty_ "  
  
Prince's eyes widened.  
  
So did Logic's.  
  
"Don't tell Morality!-"  
  
"He'd be so proud!"  
  
" ** _No_** "  
  
The fanciful personality chuckled. He then patted the free space beside him.  
  
"The bed's big enough for the three of us, don't pretend you're not tired too"  
  
Logic rolled his eyes, but with a sigh he complied and crawled beside the younger- well younger two. Taking off his glasses he passed them to Prince so that he could place them on the nightstand next to him.  
  
Once that was done, easily sank into the softness of the bed. He had almost drifted off when he felt an arm snake around and hook against his at the elbow.  
  
The teacher looked at Prince who looked down at Anxiety and then back at him.  
  
"Just in case"  
  
The worry and guilt the royal had in his eyes was almost palpable. Logic gave him a small smile and bent his arm, ensuring that the link between their elbows was strong.  
  
"Just in case" he repeated.  
  
Prince smiled and closed his eyes, easily drifting to sleep. The teacher turned and did the same.  
  
Sure he wasn't good at emotions, but he could help, _at least a little.  
_

 

* * *

  
  
Morality smiled after Logic left, his counterpart was trying his best. Shaking his head he crawled over to the bed to inform Thomas, he did promise the boy after all.  
  
"Thomas"  
"Thomas"  
"Thomas", The Parent frowned, sure he knew the manifestor was tired but...  
  
"Thomas"  
"Thomas"  
"Come on son, I need to talk to you"  
  
"Thom-", he paused, _was that blood slipping from the boy's lips?  
  
_ Panic shot through Morality like lightning and he shook the host's shoulder again.  


"Thomas!" 

  
_**Thomas was still.**_

 

* * *

 

**AN//: Ayy, how we doin' on the angst train guys? XD**

**So this week I've been stalking the Prinxiety tag and there's like a solid six of us who ended there last update with an Unconscious Anxiety, we just love to torture the poor bab don't we? ;)**

**Hi five to TheReferencer and their awesome theory, you were pretty close!**

**Ok so its time for the Comment of the week but first some hate? Idk really, but i received a pm, i will not name the person because I ain't about that life but yeah it said:**

**"why are you begging for comments? leave that for smaller writers"**

**And i'm here like, is this a joke? Am I interpreting this wrong? You guys tell me.**

**But really, I don't beg for comments, it’s just that when you comment I can reply and I want y'all to know that I really appreciate you guys reading this crappy fic XD.**

**Anyway, on to business!**

**COMMENT OF THE WEEK:**

**BY: idk_otps**

**_"DON'T DO THIS TO MEH MY LITTLE HEART CAN'T TAKE IT I SWEAR IF HE DIES I WILL RIP MY FACE OFF"_ **

**See y'all soon!**

 


	11. Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those new on the Angst Train… I’m sorry ;)

* * *

_"-_ oMaS!"

_"tHoMaS!"_

**_"THOMAS!"_**  
  
"Huh- Wha-?!" He jolted up at the shout, mind utterly confused as he sat up, his heart was racing but he couldn't figure why-"Morality?"  
  
Thomas blinked, then rubbed his eyes, he was so tired it took him a moment to realize. _He was the only on the bed.  
_  
Wide eyes and shaking voice, he faced the Parental personality.  
  
"W-where are the others? Where's Anxiety? He-he didn't fade did he?"  
  
Dad looked panicked, a feeling of dread began to fester in the host. Morality shook his head but that didn't make him feel any better.  
  
"H-he's ok, but y-you, are you alright?"  
  
"What no, I'm fine?-"  
  
"You're bleeding Thomas"  
  
The Parent still looked panicked but the dread in his voice...  
  
Thomas raised his fingers to his lips, he pulled away.  
  
_They were stained **red**.  
_

 

* * *

  
  
Out from its secluded nest covered in shadows, a blue creature awoke, its black beady eyes narrowing. It had a mission, to find a particular person or personality if you will.  
  
With unsurprising stealth and speed, the creature's lithe blue form slipped away from the large shady tree it resided in and reached a window, the objective was almost complete all it had to do now was-  
  
The creature blinked, the room was empty, again; the one it sought was not there and hadn't been for the past four days.  
  
The creature was beginning to get fed up, **_maybe it was time to find him_**.

 

* * *

  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
"Thom-"  
  
"It's ok Morality, I'm fine-"  
  
"No you're not, Thomas that's blood and a lo-"  
  
"Calm down, I'm ok, I just bit my lip see? I'm ok, I promise"  
  
The manifestor tugged and bent his lower lip, easily showing the deep cuts and teeth shaped indents on the inner of the pinkened flesh.  
  
About two of the deeper cuts were bleeding, hence the reason the boy's fingers were stained red.  
  
Morality squinted at it, until Thomas let go of his lip in favor of running his tongue over the cuts.... _and_ _then wincing in pain afterwards.  
_  
At seeing this Dad sighed, with a bowed head he placed his hands under his glasses and stayed like that for a few moments. The manifestor looked at him worriedly, the Parental's behaviour was anything but normal.  
  
"Morality?" He questioned, tentatively reaching out to him as the other kept his face covered. Before he could touch the deep emotion, the Parent moved his hands.  
  
With a small exhale, Morality looked up at him, now the boy could see that though his face was dry and his eyes weren't quite that red, his eye lashes were very moist, enough so to leave tiny trails on the lens of his glasses.  
  
Without a word Dad pulled Thomas into a hug and the host wholly accepted it, with eyes widening at the pace of which the Parent's heart was beating, **he _scared_ Morality**.  
  
He realized this even more when the personality squeezed him a bit. Feeling guilty, Thomas rubbed and patted the other's back, Morality just hugged him tighter and the boy could swear he heard _a small choked sob.  
_  
"I'm ok, I promise"  
  
"I know, you just...gave me a bit of a- a scare, that's all"  
  
"I'm sorr-"  
  
"It's not your fault, I was...it just... first Anxiety and then you- I... I thought-"  
  
"Hey its ok, I get what you mean, I was pretty surprised too, but I guess it is actually my fault-"  
  
"What?" The Parent's voice became hoarse.  
  
"Mom always said to stop biting my lips when I was worried", said Thomas with a small chuckle. " _Who knew it would come back to bite me?!"_  
  
Morality chuckled too, his body and shoulders shaking in the hug, the host said nothing when he felt droplets of moisture on his back, he simply hugged the other tighter.

 

* * *

  
  
The embrace lasted for a good ten minutes.  
  
He couldn't help it, he was worried, he knew he shouldn't have broken down, but other than Prince's very small one, he was the only one who hadn't.  
  
He was _the deep emotion_ for gosh sake, he helped the Royal calm down when they were looking for Anxiety, he helped Thomas sort out his feelings the second the boy ran upstairs, he helped Logan deal with his after the Teacher's apology to Anxiety, he helped Anxiety calm down after his fit, _granted the younger was unconscious,_ but he helped.  
  
He helped them all, talking softly to them, encouraging them to calm down(Prince), letting them know that blaming themselves was not the answer (Thomas), congratulating them for speaking from the heart (Logic) and reminding them how to _breath_ (Anxiety).  
  
He helped them.  
  
**_But who helped him?  
_**  
Anxiety was the youngest personality, he was a mere child, sure a particularly dark and dark loving child, but he was a child none the less. The younger didn't act like it often, but Morality knew, he was a father after all, he knew that certain things the other+-s said hurt him and he tried his best to be there for Anxiety, with an encouraging comment and a small smile, but he couldn't be everywhere at once.  
  
He already watched over Thomas and the other five children, he didn't always time to watch over Anxiety and he hated it. He was the eldest Personality, the most prominent emotion, _he was a father, guide, and protector.  
_  
To see Anxiety sick and bleeding meant he failed as an emotion, father and guide, to see Thomas bleeding meant he failed at all that and at being a protector. To have them both down meant he failed, utterly and completely.  
  
And he was scared. To fail meant **_death_** , as the first Manifestation and the prominent personality, he had a job, managing and helping all the younger personalities and emotions while yet still protecting Thomas.  
  
If he failed an emotion could disappear and a part of Thomas would be forgotten, or a personality would fade and Thomas would be injured, or even worse, Thomas could die simply because Morality wasn't there for him. And if Thomas died, they all died and it would have all been because of his failure.  
  
**He sniffled.  
  
** He couldn't let anything bring him down....or the rest would follow with him.  
  
**He needed to stop.**  
  
Thomas was ok, and Anxiety said he felt better, he was a bit sketchy on that one but still, they were both alive, he didn't fail completely, they were ok enough and he was going to make sure they were going to get better.  
  
**He put himself together.**  
  
He wiped his eyes carefully and quietly, he was scared for Thomas and he was pretty sure he was scaring Thomas.  
  
So he did what he did best, he plastered on a smile, not a big one of course, that would hardly be believable in this case.  
  
**He pulled away.**  
  
Gently Morality eased his way out of the hug, Thomas was looking at him worriedly.  
  
"Sorry", he apologized.  
  
"It's ok, I'm worried too"  
  
_Not as worried as me.  
  
_ "I need to ask you something"  
  
"Yes?", he looked up at the boy, unaware that his thoughts caused him to stray to the floor.  
  
"What exactly is fading?"  
  
Morality tensed.

 

* * *

 

  
"Where did you hear that one from?"  
  
"You and Logic, it was the same day you told us that Anxiety was sick, and I went upstairs-"  
  
"You said you were going to take a nap"  
  
"I did, but I heard you guys speaking about it from in my room"  
  
"Oh", the Parental's face was blank.  
  
"What does it mean? Well I think I know what it means, but what happens to the personality, what happens to me?"  
  
Morality swallowed thickly before answering, the boy had a right to know, but he didn't want to scare him further.  
  
"Well it's...basically...dying, but not the same as humans do, when an emotion fades, it's forgotten, like a memory, sometimes it can be returned. A personality, is different, you can weaken one, but they are _never_ forgotten"  
  
Thomas stared intently as Morality continued to explain.  
  
"When a personality fades or is about to fade, their fear makes them twisted-"  
  
"Their fear?-"  
  
"Wouldn't you be afraid if you were dying?"  
  
Thomas nodded so Morality continued his explanation.  
  
"They lose their form and latch on to their host's mind, leeching the life right out of them. It's worse when it's a manifested Personality, they lose their form, turn into shadows and slowly kill their hosts. Depression is the best known example for one of these"  
  
Thomas looked pale.  
  
"I-is this why there aren't many manifestors?"

 

"That's what I think, Logic thinks it's more evolutionary, but he always thinks that"  
  
The host cracked a small smile, but his face dropped again.  
  
"What even causes a personality to fade?"  
  
"No one really knows for sure what causes them to fade, but lack of energy and "disuse" should do the trick-"  
  
"Disuse?"  
  
"Personalities and emotions are "used" by their host and in turn they take energy-"  
  
"No-no I know that, I meant how can you not use a personality? Don't you guys have control of whenever you’re summoned? I've seen you all just pop out whenever you want to-"  
  
"Here's the thing about that Thomas, you let us pop up-"  
  
"What? I don't get i-"  
  
"You're a pretty young manifestor, you've only been one for about 4-5 years max, and it's very impressive, you've got a lot of power. To summon not only one, but four personalities at the same time, it takes a lot of energy and not just anybody can hold up under that pressure"  
  
".. _ok_..?"  
  
"You're powerful but you don't know how to control that power. You leave your mind and mindscape wide open, giving us personalities the freedom to pop in whenever"  
  
"Wait, so others can't do that?"  
  
"Only powerful manifestors can, others need to summon a personality one or two at a time, but the personality can't summon themselves or each other"  
  
"Wow...ok so... wow", the surprise in Thomas' voice was adorably amusing.  
  
"Didn't realise how strong you are, did you?" Said the father with a semi-mischievous eye brow wiggle.  
  
"No actually, I thought it was a thing all manifestors could do-"  
  
"Nope! Just the strong ones"  
  
"Cool, wait...then Anxiety's not fading right?"  
  
"Huh?-"  
  
"I mean, he can summon himself at any time, and he was doing just that before the incident and it's not like we all weren't worrying about him afterwards,  so it can't be that right?"  
  
"I'm not sure what you're saying sport-"  
  
"It's just...Anxiety isn't going to fade because of that right? It has to be something else that making him sick-"  
  
Morality placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder.  
  
"Easy there, none of us know why he's sick but I doubt the kiddo's gonna fade, he said he was feeling better befor-"  
  
"B-but he was bleeding"  
  
Dad shrugged.  
_  
He needed to play this off or the boy would only be more distressed.  
  
_ "That's the same thing I thought, but it could always be that worse before it gets better scenario"  
  
"True"  
  
It worked.  
  
With a groan Thomas flopped down on his bed.  
  
"Ugh, this is so confusing and I'm _tiiiiiired_ ", whined the host.  
  
The host meant it all in good fun but Morality still winced.  
  
"That would be because of us"  
  
Thomas looked up at Dad from his position on the bed.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well..."

 

* * *

  
  
"So you're telling me I'm basically one big battery pack of energy for you guys?"  
  
" _Eeh_...pretty much, yeah"  
  
"Huh, that's kinda weird"  
  
Morality simply shrugged.  
  
The host chuckled.  
  
"But wait, Anxiety said he was feeling better when he woke up right?"  
  
"Uh, yes?"  
  
"I was next to him so maybe that hel-"  
  
The Parent held up a hand.  
  
"I'm gonna stop you right there kiddo, it's true Anxiety was taking energy from you because you were so close and that's probably how he ended up returning to the mindscape in the first place but staying out here would have done more harm than good"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, for a personality, once they're summoned for a whole day or over, it tends to drain both the manifestor and the manifested. And Anxiety's sick, his form would need twice the normal amount of energy to stay stable out here-"  
  
" _Ohh_ , it's no wonder I feel so tired"  
  
"That and you've had all four of us out for overnight and well...call it two days, plus you didn't get much sleep-"  
  
"Ugh, I really _am_ a battery pack", groaned the boy on the bed.  
  
Dad chuckled.  
  
"Well it looks like you need a recharge, hmm? Come on, I'll make you breakfast and then you can go back to sleep how does that sound?"  
  
"Break-?", he looked at his phone on the nightstand, "wow, almost 8am already"  
  
"Time does fly son-"  
  
_"Then we better go catch it"  
_  
The biggest grin appeared on Morality's face.  
  
" _Aayy_!"

 

Thomas laughed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.  
  
Once there, the personality began digging through the cupboards, he picked out the box of cereal, shook it and frowned.  
  
"It's almost full"  
  
**Thomas bought the cereal the day before the incident.  
**  
"Yeah...", the boy scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "I really don't like holding the spoon in my right hand, it feels weird"  
  
"Ah, _hmm_ …how bout I make a sandwich? No need for spoons or forks"  
  
"That would be awesome, thanks"  
  
"Alright then sport, sit down and I'll fix it right up for ya"  
  
With a small smile and an internal shrug, the host did just that.

 

* * *

 

 ** _Something_** woke them up, they couldn't tell you what it was but either way they were up.  
  
Logic blinked, stifling a yawn. His head felt heavy and his vision was slightly blurry, oh right he didn't have his glasses.  
  
Prince woke up with a splitting headache and a weight on his chest, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.  
  
Logic looked right, Princey looked left.  
  
They looked at each other...and laughed.  
  
The two who usually kept themselves the neatest, looked nothing more than the definition of dishevelled.  
  
The Teacher's hair was tussled about, his tie was crooked, the buttons of his polo were open and there was a small dry trail of saliva running down the left side of his face.  
  
The Regal personality on the other hand, _didn't look so regal._ His hair was all about, he had sleep lines on his face, the creases of his suit were rumpled and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.  
  
To make matters cute ***ehem*** worse, there was a sleeping Anxiety snuggling his chest. The youngest personality was deeply asleep and by the small almost smile on his face, it was a peaceful one.  
  
"Well isn't that just precious?", half smirked Logic.  
  
"Yes, it seems he is adorable when he's not tantalizing people isn't he?"  
  
The Teacher rolled his eyes and chuckled, he then placed a hand on the younger's forehead, his fever hadn't moved, but at least he wasn't shivering again.  
  
The royal personality grew curious.  
"How is he?"  
  
"No change"  
  
"Of course", sighed Prince dejectedly.  
  
As if hearing him, Anxiety made a small sound in his sleep. His nose scrunged up a bit and he nuzzled the red sash until he was comfortable again, his face instantly relaxing with an exhale and a small smile.  
  
It was an undeniably cute scene. And Prince almost couldn't hold back his chuckles.  
  
"Awww", gushed the royal, "I hope he knows I'm never going to let him live that down"  
  
Logan actually chuckled.  
"I'm sure you won't"

 

* * *

  
  
The blue creature finally found him, the personality had been hiding from it for too long, but _no more_ , it had a job to do and _it was going to go through with it **by all means necessary**.  
  
_

 

* * *

  
  
"You do know he just draining us like old batteries, right?"  
  
"Trust me Logan", said Prince stretching and popping his shoulder joints with a wince, " _I know_ "  
  
Anxiety grumbled something under his breath, gripping the Royal's sash and suit, fussing slightly as he stirred.  
  
Princey's eyes widened, quickly _but gently_ , he ran his hand through the younger's hair. The Darker personality huffed, leaning to the touch before relaxing again. The sash remained in his slackened hold.  
  
Both Royal and Teacher stayed silent until they were sure Anxiety was still asleep. It wasn't long till Logic's resolve broke and he cracked a smile.  
  
"You're his pillow, you're not supposed move"  
  
Prince looked outraged, he turned, moving slightly, to point his finger at the Teacher's smug face.  
  
"Logic I swear-"  
  
Anxiety stirred and fussed again.  
  
Sighing Prince slumped down, accepting his defeat, he began carding his fingers through the darker's hair.  
  
Grumbling quietly as the Logical personality chuckled.  
  
"Curse you're hair for being so soft", muttered the Royal to the sleeping one on his chest, the younger in turn made another soft sound and leaned in to the touch.  
  
Prince sighed, Logic took a picture, _he'd be showing both Morality and Thomas this later_ , Anxiety slept on peacefully.

 

* * *

 

 The creature grew livid, the personality was happily chatting away with the other, well _no more_ , the creature popped into the room, dead set on giving the personality a piece of its mind.

 

* * *

 

Logic and Prince were engaging in idle chatter when an all of a sudden a blue bird popped over and began tweeting and twittering angrily at the Royal's face.  
  
Prince blinked, his blue feathered friend was tweeting too fast for him to comprehend.  
  
"Slow down little one, I cannot understand you when you get this riled up"  
  
The blue bird stopped and seemed to consider that, it began again slowly but no less angry.  
  
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, see the thing is-"  
  
"Wait, your able understand this bird?", but in Logic.  
  
"Of course, it's my good friend after all"  
  
The blue creature continued its twittering rant once more. And the Royal turned to face it again.  
  
"I know, I know and I'm sorry, but I was aiding my sick comrade here", he said gesturing to the Anxiety on his chest.  
  
The little blue bird blinked. Flying lower to examine the sick personality. Not knowing what else to do, it twittered gently.  
  
"... _bird_...?" Anxiety squinted at the blue creature, utterly confused as to why he woke up to it chirping in his ear.  
  
"Oh yes, this little blue beauty is my alarm clock"  
  
"...'sit clean?..."  
  
It was obvious that the darker personality was still tired, but Prince understood his slurred speech. He was still somewhat offended though.  
  
"Of course it's clean, it's from _my_ kingdom"  
  
Anxiety frowned for a bit before blinking in realization, "oh, righ' Dis ***yawn*** ney"  
He held out his finger so the little blue creature could perch on it.  
  
When it did, the youngest personality raised his other hand to pet it.  
  
"...'ts sof'...", he said quietly.  
  
The blue bird chirped at him and jumped forward, Anxiety tensed but then relaxed  when he realized that the creature landed next to his cheeks and was currently nuzzling it.  
  
"... _hmn._.."  
  
Prince was biting his lip to avoid squealing at the cuteness, if Morality were here they'd both be gushing.  
  
Anxiety was just drifting back to sleep, but this time with the little blue bird snuggled up next to his cheek.  
  
"He just put my alarm clock to sleep", commented the Royal in utter amusement.  
  
Logic, who had been watching the entire reaction and may or may not have been videoing, chuckled quietly.  
  
"You mean he put it on snooze"  
  
**_The proverbial record broke.  
  
_** Prince gaped and Anxiety blinked up and turned his head towards the Teacher.  
  
"...di'yu jus' make...? _How sic am i.._.?"  
  
"I don't know but I'm starting to think he's getting sick too, either that or that's not the real Logic, this is the second dad joke he's made in a day", exclaimed the Royal, he was squinting at Logic with immense suspicion.  
  
The Teacher rolled his eyes.  
  
" ...'no wat? 'M goin bac t' sleep, things may lot mre sense ther..."  
  
"You do that Anxiety, you're slurring your words and it's far too early to listen to a butchering of the English language"  
  
The sleepy personality turned to face Prince while pointing at the eldest in the room.  
  
"...He's th' real Logic an'  'es bac t' his ***yawn*** cynical self..."  
  
"I wasn't being cynical then but thank you, now got back to sleep"  
  
Anxiety raised a finger and opened his mouth to say something, he inhaled for dramatic effect.  
  
"... _k'_..."  
  
And promptly turned and positioned himself back to how he was before, the little blue bird snuggled against his cheek once more.  
  
The Teacher blinked. Prince couldn't help but chuckle, this entire ordeal was just _too cute and too amusing.  
  
_ "He's quite docile today, isn't he?",  
  
"Seems so Logic-"  
  
"...'m not docile ***yawn*** 'ts erly an 'm _tired_..."

 

* * *

  
  
"I swear he's like a cat", commented the Royal as he ran his fingers through Anxiety's hair. The younger sighed in his sleep, thoroughly enjoying the feeling.  
  
"Well he does have _some_ feline like qualities" admitted Logic with a small smile, Anxiety was still sick but he had a feeling that the younger personality would be ok.  
  
The Teacher sighed and slowly moved from off the bed.  
  
"I've got a class to teach tomorrow-"

 

"Oh right, tomorrow’s Monday, which means I have a meeting with memories and emotion control management-", groaned Prince.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dreams"  
  
"Oh right, you deal with that during the R.E.M cycle-"  
  
"Yep"  
  
"Good luck"  
  
"Same to you, how many students do you have?"  
  
"The class expands almost all the time, so I might have even more students than I did two weeks ago"  
  
"Ouch, must be hard, dealing with so many Veiwers all at once"  
  
Logic shrugged.  
  
"I have some partials in my class too, _I'm sure_ I have one manifestor in my class but she's shy"  
  
"It's always the quiet ones, hmm?"  
  
"It would seem so, either way, I best get some rest, I have to be at school earlier than usual to catch up on the material I need to teach"  
  
"Yeah, and I need", Prince paused as he slowly slipped from under Anxiety, "to prepare for that meeting"  
  
The teacher gave him an understanding nod as they quietly headed out the door.  
  
The royal paused.  
  
"Thanks", Logic raised a brow, "for staying I mean"  
  
"It's not a problem, besides your concern is quite valid, I still don't know how you were able to drain him in the first place and vice versa, seems like I'll need to do some more research on energy transfer, but in the meantime, I'm heading to bed", the Teacher waved his goodbye and headed to his room, leaving Prince at Anxiety's doorway.  
  
The Royal bid a good rest to Logic before turning to close the Anxiety's door. He paused at seeing the younger's sleeping form, he smiled and for some reason, he felt a strange warmth flow through him.  
  
A chirp caused him to blink, the little blue bird twittered curiously at him.  
  
"You can stay with him if you'd like, but do tell me if anything happens ok?"  
  
The blue creature nodded and raised its wing in a comical salute.  
  
The, _non-regal looking_ , Regal personality thanked his little friend with a salute of his own, closed the door and headed for his room.

 

* * *

  
  
After making the sandwich for Thomas, he was all but sent to bed by his host.  
  
Chuckling he sank down.  
  
The commons were quiet so he went to check on the others. He went to Anxiety's room, which was all the way at the back and made his way up.  
  
He knocked gently before opening the door, he smiled.  
  
"Awww, and the little bird, aaaah", quickly he took a picture and left the sleeping pair of Anxiety and the blue bird.  
  
Next he moved onto Prince's room. Now the tricky thing with his and Logan's room was that sometimes they led to a different place.  
  
Prince's room would either lead to, well his room, or the entrance of his castle depending on where he was or what mood the Royal was in.  
  
Currently the fanciful personality was in dead sleep, he looked so precious. Morality would even go so far as to call him **_'Sleeping beauty'_**. Dad chuckled at his own joke before closing the door and heading to the next room.  
  
Logic's room would either be his bed or a parking lot in front of the school he taught at. Hmm, speaking of, the teacher would probably be going back to school soon.  
  
Currently the Teacher was in bed, asleep just as Prince was, however his tie was still on. Now while the Parent understood that the other was a serious person and serious people wear neck ties, wearing one in bed was a bit of a choking hazard.  
  
"Aww, poor thing, he was too tired to take it off"  
  
Carefully Morality ambled over and removed the tie without a hitch. Sure he may have loosed the knot completely but it was the only way he could do so without waking the other. Gently he placed the tie on Logic's nightstand and closed the door.  
  
Now that he knew that everyone was ok and they were all getting their rest, Morality allowed his facade to drop, slowly he moved to his room, closing the door behind him.  
  
He removed his glasses and cardigan then placed the items on his nightstand. Once done he flopped down on his bed.

  
**_He was out the moment his head touched the pillow.  
_**

 

* * *

****

**AN:// aaaay, it was fluff! Lmao, OK so I was told that the angst train was getting a bit cramped, so to make up for that we've taken a nice little stop in this fluff field where you can all walk around and enjoy the scenery and more peeps can catch up, while the train goes under renovations. It's going to get way, way bigger, lots a space plus more comfortable seats, I want no one standing heheh ;)  
  
So in the mean time, invite your friends, fellow Fanders and everyone else, they're always welcome, the more the merrier right? Let's make this a ride we'll never forget XD  
  
Alright down to business, here we go.  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK:  
By: IWriteStuffAndThings  
  
"Thomas was still.  
Anxiety is dying.  
I think your writing  
Is electrifying.  
And although your angst  
Never has an end  
I just want to say thanks  
As a friend.  
This story is great  
And I'm not a poet  
I love what you're doing and  
OMG IF YOU KILL ANXIETY OR THOMAS I WILL LITERAL RIP OUT MY HEART"  
  
this was great XD.  
  
See y'all in the comments ;) **


	12. The Teacher's Tardy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chooochoo! ;)

* * *

  
  
Logic woke up to the sound of his alarm, groaning he reached out blindly for his phone and pressed snooze. Happily settling back to sleep… _only to be awakened by another alarm._  
  
The Teacher groaned once more, before actually picking up the phone, squinting at the screen, he realized that it was a notification for calendared date, today was the day he was supposed to be teaching again.  
  
He was going to question why he set his alarm so early, when he remembered that he had to be at school earlier than usual to catch up on the material.  
  
_Dang_ , he really wanted to sleep a bit more, he hardly got any the night before with how his mind was roaming.  
  
Sighing he got up and began to get ready, he had a job to do after all.

 

* * *

  
  
Logic was clean and completely dressed, well, almost... _His glasses were missing._  
  
After he had taken a shower, which was _after_ he noticed one of his ties, the one he was wearing previously, was loosed completely and placed on the nightstand.  
He knew instantly that Morality had removed his tie for him, he blushed a bit in embarrassment. The Teacher was so tired when he left Anxiety's room, that the second he reached his bed. He fell victim to sleep.  
  
Speaking of Anxiety's room, Logic was sure it was in there, he recalled passing his glasses to Prince and the Royal placed it on the nightstand next to him.  
  
If anything, it was a pretty good excuse to check on Anxiety, his dreams of the youngest weren't so pretty, **_blood, tears and fading.  
_**  
Shaking his head to rid himself of his dreams, Logic headed towards Anxiety's door.  
  
He knocked twice before entering. The youngest personality was curled up on his side, his chest slowly rising and falling, though with a slight jerky motion, a testament to his strange illness.  
  
The boy was facing him so the Teacher could see the neutral expression on his face, Logic frowned, he preferred to see the small smile, but there was none on those parted lips.  
  
Sighing quietly, Logan located his glasses on Anxiety's nightstand and made his way to it, only to be stopped by chirping.

The little blue bird twittered curiously at him, a little blue body guard, _amusing_.  
  
"Salutations, I'm simply getting my glasses-"  
  
The blue creature easily found it picked it up and brought it over to him.  
  
The Teacher blinked for a moment before remembering that this was one of Prince's birds. He thanked the blue creature, put on his glasses and turned to head out the door, but once again he was stopped by chirping.  
  
Giving the little bird a side glance, he noticed it carefully float above Anxiety's shoulder before perching lightly on it, the creature twittered gently at the sleeping one.  
  
It then looked up at him and twittered some more before tilting its head at Anxiety. Understanding the gesture, Logic made his way over to the pair. Gently he placed his hand on the darker personality's forehead, **_the fever hadn't moved.  
  
_**_Where was the ice pack? Shouldn't he have had one yesterday?_ The Teacher didn't recall seeing it.  
  
The bird jumped on his hand and twittered at him, not knowing what to do he opted for false reassurance.  
  
"He'll be fi-"  
  
The **look** the little bird gave him.  
  
Truly, Anxiety had found one of his own, the pure and unadulterated deadpanned expression on its little blue face could have made cold sweat run.  
  
Its beady black eyes were not having it, the creature huffed and its feathers puffed up in annoyance as if to say, _'do you think I'm stupid?'_  
  
Ok, he was more tired than he thought, the bird may be smart but there was no way it was making those expressions- it chirped sharply at him, **_nevermind._**  
  
"His fever hasn't changed, it's still high"  
  
The bird twittered sadly, gently nuzzling the sleeping personality, before flying up at him. The Teacher tensed before realizing that the creature now flew at eye level, he held out a finger and the bird perched, gently twittering up at him.  
  
"He'll be fine, I'm certain of it", he intended that to come out strong and believable but instead it was small and unsure. His eyes roamed the floor.

 

The bird chirped at him again. He looked to his finger to find it now on his shoulder, the little blue creature twittered at him gently, before nuzzling his cheek, in an attempt to cheer him up.  
  
He smiled slightly before sighing at the fact that a _bird_ had more control over its emotions than he did. He raised his hand to pet the thing, Anxiety was right, **_it really was soft_**. Thanking it, he let it fly back to Anxiety after telling the little blue body guard that he'd get an ice pack for the younger.  
  
Just when he thought he was going crazy for actually talking to a bird, the creature nodded and for a fraction of a second Logic could _swear_ it smiled at him.  
  
Closing the door and shaking his head, the Teacher went to go find an ice pack, Morality tended to keep a lot of them in the freezer, "just in case", he said. There were five kids running around, bumps and bruises were bound to happen. It was also the reason he had so many first aid kits in cupboards, just in case.  
  
Speaking of the Father, Logic decided to check on him, after Morality checked on him before, it was only fair, or so he told himself.

 

* * *

  
  
The Teacher knocked twice on his counterpart's door before opening it. The Parent was sound asleep. Logic frowned, the other looked so _exhausted_ , it's a wonder how he managed to stay with Thomas for so long.  
  
The Father's breathing was... _off_ , Logan walked up to him seeing that the other now had his brows knitted together. The Logical personality had a feeling that this was the beginning of a nightmare.  
  
Deciding not to let his elder suffer, Logic shook Morality's shoulder.  
  
_"Morality!"  
**"Morality!"  
**_  
"Hmm? Wha-?", Dad sat up, rubbing his eyes, " _Logan_? ***yawn*** what time is it?"  
  
The poor guy looked even more exhausted while awake and the Teacher knew that if he told the other the time, he'd try to get up to make everyone breakfast.  
  
" _Early_ ", replied Logic, "you should go back to sleep, I only woke you because you looked like you were having a nightmare"  
  
"But breakfast-"  
  
_Called it.  
_  
"I'll make breakfast for everyone, you go back to sleep"  
  
"But-"  
  
The Teacher gave him 'the look'.  
  
Dad sighed before laying back down.  
"Thank you Logan"  
  
The Logical personality smiled.  
"You're very welcome"

 

* * *

  
  
Pancakes were a fairly simple thing to make, especially for children. He wasn't too hungry, Anxiety wasn't waking up anytime soon and Prince was at a meeting at his castle. So all that left were Dad and the kids.  
  
Currently, all five of them were around the table, happily munching on their own little stacks of brown happiness. Pranks, "Steven" and Misleading Compliment were having a race, while the siblings, the Sister and brother, were the judges.  
  
Logic rolled his eyes at the children's antics, he hummed to himself, probably Mozart, as he carried a final stack to Morality's room, _maybe a little breakfast in bed would make the Father feel better?  
_  
He knocked on the door, not getting an answer, he let himself in. Morality was curled up on his side, his sleep much more peaceful than earlier, the Teacher couldn't bring himself to wake him.  
  
So he made some space and placed the plate on the nightstand before quietly exiting the room.

 

* * *

  
  
It was almost 7:00am when the Teacher instructed Pranks and "Steven" to do the dishes and Misleading Compliment to throw out the trash, while the siblings cleaned up the table and chairs.  
  
With that done, he was about to head to his room and to schoo-  
  
"Where's Dad?" asked the little girl.  
  
"He's not feeling too well as of this moment, he'll be fine, he's just tired"  
  
The girl nodded and continued her given task along with her brother.  
  
The Teacher gave her a small smile before heading to his room.  
  
Opening the door, under his control, it changed from a room to a familiar parking lot in front of a familiar school.  
  
**_He missed this.  
_**  
With a small smile, he headed towards the building and walked inside.

 

* * *

 

"Good Morning class"  
  
There were multiple gasps and murmurs of _"you're back!"_ , _"he's here!"_ , _"yo teach!"  
_  
"Now, now, settle down", chuckled the Teacher, "yes, I'm back and I do apologize for my absence, but your substitute teacher has informed me of how far you've all reached with the given material and I'm quite proud of you all-"  
  
Loud cheers and applause filled the room but it quieted down rather quickly when Logic raised his hand.  
  
He gave a small nod to the class before continuing.  
  
"On top of that, it seems that we have acquired some new students", he looked at two teens, a boy in a beanie, jacket and jeans who bit at his lip and balled his hands into a fist and a shy girl in jeans and a pink long sleeve shirt, "would you like to introduce yourselves?"  
  
The boy spoke up first, raising his hand, his lime green jacket crinkling from the motion.  
  
" _Ah- um, S-soy Luíz Torres_ ", Logic blinked, **_oh, ok, Spanish_** , he knew the rough basics of the language but he needed far more work, **_hmm, maybe he should ask Prince, for some tutoring?_  
**  
The boy seemed to notice his vacant look, " _perdoname maestro pero_ ", he stumbled out, "I not speak very good English"  
  
"That's quite alright, tell us something about yourself Mr. Torres"  
  
"Um?"  
  
"Anything, favorite food, hobby anything about your family, anything at all really"  
  
"Oh, um", he began listing off his fingers, " _me gusta leer, rojo es mi color favorito, y, um.._.", The Teacher watched as Luíz looked around the class until his eyes locked on and he pointed to a student to the left of him, " _y Valerie es mi prima_ , she my cousin"  
  
Logic looked to his left to see Valerie smiling sheepishly at him. He chuckled before redirecting his attention back to the boy.  
  
"That would explain the similar last names, I'm sure you know as much English as I know Spanish, so Valerie could be our translator", he turned back to Val, "how does that sound to you?"  
  
She smiled at him, " _Claro que sí maestro_ "  
  
"Excellent", with Valerie as a translator, he wouldn't have to worry too much about not understanding the boy if he asked any questions, Luíz seemed relieved aswell.  
  
"Now how old are you Mr. Torres?"  
  
" _Dieciséis_...", he trailed off pausing in concentration until he snapped his fingers, "Sixteen!"  
  
The class applauded and Valerie gave him a thumbs up.  
  
"Well done, welcome to the class-"  
  
" _Gracias maestro_ "  
  
Logic gave him a nod. "Now, most if not all of you can tell, that while he didn't say, Mr. Torres is a partial manifestor", the boy suddenly looked sheepish.  
  
Logic shook his head fondly, "I'm sure it was just _lost in translation_ -"  
  
The class laughed and he winced internally, Morality's dad jokes were somehow contagious, **_maybe he really is getting sick.  
_**  
"Anyway, how many of you can sense his personalities? Can you guess how many there are?"  
  
Majority raised their hands, including the new girl, the personality senses something from her, this would be an interesting class.  
  
"Alright, sans the other four partials and Valerie, you can all answer together-"  
  
"FOUR!" Bellowed the class.  
  
Logic chuckled "well done class, Mr. Torres does have four main personalities", he looked towards Luíz, the boy laughed and nodded, "would you like to introduce them?"  
  
The boy nodded again, his eyes glazed over for the briefest of seconds and then his posture changed. He sat up straighter, more attentive.  
  
" _Buenos dias maestro, soy Miguel_ ", he said politely.  
  
Luíz blinked and then slouched.  
  
" _Soy Pablo_ ", this one had a smirk.  
  
Luíz blinked again, posture much more open, but less disrespectful.  
  
"I am Juan", he smiled.  
  
Luíz blinked once more, his body attempted to shrink into the chair.  
  
" _Jorge_ ", said this one timidly, that was all he said, the class laughed a bit before Luíz' eyes glazed over for another brief second.

 

The boy blinked rapidly before sitting up like he was before, clearly Luíz was back in charge, **_for now at least_** , partials tended to switch rather quickly and unexpectedly, but some had a good amount of control.

"Thank you very much Mr. Torres, like I had mentioned before, we have four other partials, adding you makes five, let's see if we can get that number up, shall we?"  
  
The class was filled with positive murmurs and chatter.  
  
"Alright, now before we go on to the next student, I'd like to tell you today's topic, It's Manifestation identification"  
  
Annoyed groaning and more murmurs, came from the students.  
  
"Amusing name I know, but it is very important, while it's easier to tell how many main personalities a young partial has", he gestured to Luíz and the four others, "how could you tell the number of main personalities a manifestor has? And how can you do that from only viewing a single personality?"  
  
The class was quiet.  
  
"Anyone?" asked the Teacher.  
  
**One hand rose up.  
**  
"Well, well, it seems like the new student is quite brave".  
  
An ironic statement considering that the girl looked like she wanted nothing more than to disappear.  
  
"Let's kill two birds with one stone shall we? You can introduce yourself and answer the question while you're at it, hmm?"  
  
The girl nodded at him.  
  
"I'm Philla Rahadeev", introduced the young girl.  
  
"It's nice to meet your acquaintance Ms. Philla, tell us something about yourself, if you'd like"  
  
"Well, uh, I-I'm  fifteen,  I’m from India and I moved out here two years ago, but um, I have a-a question for you sir"  
  
"Do ask", Logic was intrigued, he knew he sensed something from this girl.  
  
"Are y-you a manifestation?" The brown skinned girl asked sheepishly.  
  
Logic smiled gently at her.  
  
"That I am, very astute Ms. Philla, I sense quite a bit of power from you, I realize you were given another question but I think this one will help you answer that one a bit clearly, can you guess how many counterpart's I have? And tell me how you guessed that number"  
  
The girl seemed to panic, the Teacher smirked smugly at her.

 Philla took it as a challenge, narrowing her brown eyes, she stared at him with concentration.

"Two", she said finally, "there's three marks on you, each personality has a mark of their counterpart's and one from their host, the mark could be anything, like a color, shape, an or an article of clothing, you just have to look hard enough, you only see the marks if you're looking for them", the girl gave her explanation proudly, before shrinking down again, nervously gripping onto her long, black braid, "so there's three of you total to one host right?"  
  
Logic shook his head, but he was smiling.  
  
"Quite close, I am one of four main manifestations from my host, but well done, while you were wrong with the number, you were right with how you find the number, you have very impressive skills as a Viewer Ms. Philla, you'll fit right in"  
  
The class gave her a round of applause and a few students even high-fived her! The young Indian girl smiled, relieved, she'd be making friends on her first day.  
  
Logic was impressed, proud and worried. Impressed at Philla's ability and proud the shy child was making some friends, but he was worried at what she saw.  
  
The girl saw two, not three, sure it could be that she wasn't that strong, but the darker part of his mind echoed a thought, she only saw two because **_Anxiety's mark was too weak to show.  
  
_** Shaking his head slightly to avoid any more morbid thoughts, he concentrated on the task at hand.  
  
"Now as Ms. Philla had mentioned, each manifestation bears a mark, one from their host and the rest from their counterparts, as for the partials, they bear a mark too, an individual aura and each has their own signature posture, speech patterns and behaviour..."

 

* * *

  
  
"Can anyone tell me the value of X?" Asked the Teacher as he copied the equation, from his books in his hand, onto the board.  
  
Being a bit short, Logic had to stretch to write at the top of the white board, this caused him to look up and out of his peripheral vision he could see the bright blue clock above him.

"It's only two o'clock, you guys, you only have one more class left after this and then you can all go home"  
  
There were quite a few groans and very few cheers.  
  
The Teacher chuckled, the dynamics of the evening class was much different from the morning class, granted that the 8:00am and 9:00am morning classes usually consisted of teaching young Viewers, _and the five Partials_ , about their abilities, Manifestors and Manifestations. While the other classes were compulsory subjects, like English, Math and History.  
  
All his classes consisted of Veiwers, _for obvious reasons_ , however he only got to see the students of his 8:00am morning class once _or twice max,_ in any of his other classes.  
  
In this case, there were four students from the 8:00am class, Valerie, Luíz, Philla and a young girl named Eliža.  
  
"Come on now, the answer is really simpl-", Logic cut himself off, from the corner of his eye he saw- _Morality?! **  
  
**_ His eyes widened, the Parent looked distressed, a sickening feeling made his stomach flop, **_Anxiety.  
  
_** Quickly he passed the small stack of books held to Valerie.  
  
"Class, I'll be right back", the Teacher headed for the door, following Morality's quick pace.  
  
Valerie panicked, handing the books to another student and rushing out to catch up to the two.  
  
"Is there something wrong with Thomas?" Before either manifestation could answer, she shook her head, "I'm coming with you both anyway".  
  
They couldn't tell her no, they were _already_ in the parking lot.

 

* * *

  
  
Valerie swallowed down the worry bubbling at her throat, she ignored the fact that Logic snapped his fingers and teleported them to, what she would assume was, his room.  
  
She ignored the cold feeling she got when Morality then teleported them from the room to in front of some white shutters.  
  
What _-no_ **_who_** , she didn't ignore was Thomas.  
  
Her friend was kneeling on the floor clutching his chest, red faced and gasping for air.  
  
Quickly she ran to him, pulling his back against her chest. Gently holding him and trying to get his breathing to normalize.  
  
Prince was in front of the stairs literally doing the same thing with Anxiety. The darker personality seemed to be in pain, he was curled up on Prince's chest and he shaking, both personalities had tears streaming down their face.  
  
Morality found his way beside Prince and Anxiety latched on to him too, Dad gripped the younger's right hand as if begging him to hold on.  
  
All three were now crying, heck she wanted to cry too and Logic... _Logic just stood there._

 

* * *

  
  
He didn't know what to do, Anxiety was literally fading before his eyes, the other was so pale, so much paler than he had ever thought possible. **_The younger was becoming see-through._**  
  
Anxiety whimpered and Thomas gasped in pain. The host slowly crawled his way to the other three with Valerie right behind him.  
  
Thomas attempted to do something by reaching out his hand, Anxiety reached out aswell but a purple barrier stopped them, rippling in its effect. **_The host couldn't touch his youngest manifestation.  
_**  
The more they tried, the more it hurt them, but they kept going, pushing against the barrier with all their might.  
  
No one else could touch the barrier, but they could see it clear as day. Its light purple ripples were constant, jittering and jiggling under the pressure.  
  
  
_'Pwang'_  
  
They pushed.  
  
_'Pwang'_  
  
They kept pushing.  
  
_'Pwaaang'_  
  
The barrier bent.  
  
**_'Pwaaa-CrK'_**  
  
Cracks began to form along it, slowly connecting as they pushed, purple spider-like webs, manifestor and manifestation pushed harder.  
  
And then...  
  
**I T   B R O K E**

 

* * *

  
  
Shards went splintering everywhere, the sound of broken glass accompanying them as they fell.  
  
The energy spent to break the barrier was undoubtedly a large amount, but they had succeeded... _well, almost.  
_  
When Anxiety reached to grab Thomas' hand, his was practically translucent, what was scarier was that there were black shadow like wisps dancing on the tips of his fingers.  
  
He pulled it back to examine his hand with widened eyes. Once more he reached out for Thomas- **Logic stopped him.**

Everyone gaped, Anxiety flinched away.

The Teacher winced, but lowered himself to his knees in front if the younger.  
  
"Anxiety, your hand, it's.... ** _it might hurt Thomas_** -"  
  
The darker personality, having flinched onto Prince, uncurled slightly and nodded at Logic.  
  
The Logical personality didn't exactly like the look Anxiety had in his eyes, it was as if he knew something the others didn't.  
  
The Teacher's eyes widened when he realized what it was- _Prince figured it out too._  
  
"Anxiety wait, don't...please!"  
  
The Royal clutched onto the younger, Morality caught on, still holding the younger's right hand.  
  
"Please no", begged the father.  
  
Never in all his existence had he, or anyone for that matter, heard Morality sound so **_broken_**.  
  
Anxiety...  
Anxiety gave them a smile, a tiny, teary-eyed thing, but it was a smile. One that said farewell.  
  
He then looked at Thomas and back to everyone else.  
  
**"I'm sorry..."**  
  
  
It was just a whisper, but it was the loudest thing in the house.  
  
Anxiety was always one who stayed in the quiet, he left in the quiet aswell.  
  
On a light breeze, the youngest personality faded away. Particles evaporating into thin air as the shadows from his fingers consumed him in a flash, leaving nothing behind but _two tear drops on the floor._

 

* * *

  
  
Morality sobbed loudly, his once cheery disposition, **_broken_**. Prince shook, his body bent further in on his knees _, Anxiety was in **his** arms_.  
  
And Thomas...  
  
The host screamed the second Anxiety disappeared, but it came out as a mere pained gasp, his breathing was raspy and far too irregular, Valerie was at his side, tears flowing freely down her face, just as everyone else's, well _almost_ everyone.

Logic knelt there with no expression, no emotion, not a tear down his face. The Logical personality couldn't tell you how badly he wanted to cry, he couldn't tell how shaken up he was, he couldn't tell you and his body wouldn't either, _he felt it all, yet he felt **nothing**.  
_  
Morality's sobs continued and Prince had yet to cease shaking and since Valerie was comforting Thomas, the least he could do was comfort his remaining two counterpart's.  
  
He was about to place a hand on each of their shoulders-  
  
"Don't touch me or him", Logic flinched away at the tone the Royal used, it was drenched with hatred.  
  
"Prin-"  
  
"Don't you dare-"' seethed the Royal.  
  
"Wha?-"  
  
"Don't you dare even try...", his voice cracked, "n-not after that", Prince looked at him brokenly.  
  
"You said you were sorry Logic, you said you were proud of him once. _Did you lie? Did you even care about him at all? Is this what you wanted?"  
  
_ The Teacher was taken aback, of course he cared! He never wanted this to happen, not at all.  
  
"Prince wh-where is this coming from? Of-of course I care-"  
  
**_"You're not even crying"  
_**  
The cacophony of non-existent white noise, stopped, leaving a slight ring in everyone's ear.  
  
They looked at Morality, he had stopped sobbing, but he stared at Logic with the broken look of a Parent who just lost a child.  
  
"Morality I-"  
  
The father couldn't take it anymore, shaking his head he fled into the midscape.  
  
Before Logic could follow after him-  
_  
"Thomas!"  
_  
The Royal and the Teacher turned to see that their host had collapsed on to Valerie.  
  
"I'll take you two to his room", said Prince as he appeared by her side. Valerie gave a solemn nod and the now youngest personality teleported them to Thomas' room.

 

* * *

  
  
They ended up on Thomas' bed.

 

 Prince gently got off and left the room and Valerie moved Thomas to a more comfortable position on her lap. When the personality returned, he brought with him some toilet paper and a bucket. The Veiwer took the paper and gently wiped Thomas' face before taking some more paper and wiping her own.  
  
"I know I have no right to ask this-", started Prince, his voice was barely above a whisper.  
  
"I'll stay with him, you should go, you lost a friend too", the girl looked up at him, her eyes were shinning with unshed tears but there was **_understanding_** in them.  
  
The Royal internally thanked the heavens for Thomas' ability to make good friends.  
  
" _Thank you Valerie_ ", he whispered gratefully.

 

The Viewer blinked, the Royal was gone.

 

Thomas was still crying in his sleep, silent tears trailing down his face, she didn't hear it at first but she did see his lips moving. Valerie leaned closer, only to choke back a sob at what Thomas whispered.  
  
**_"I'm sorry too"  
  
_**

* * *

  
  
Logic being by himself in the living room sighed, he was staring at the two little tear drops on the floor, they had yet to disappear.  
  
His chest ached, Prince's words and Morality's broken look replayed in his mind. He sighed again before wiping his face, _his eyes were still very much dry.  
_  
He looked at his watch, 2:10pm. So much happened in a mere ten minutes, the Teacher swallowed thickly, he still had a class.  
  
Of course he was going to dismiss it, but he was at least going to inform the children, he owed them that much for his abrupt departure.  
  
With that in mind he teleported in front of his room door. When he reached there he felt his chest constrict, Morality's door was just ahead of his and Prince's was just behind on the other side, as much as he wanted to go to the others, he wouldn't know what to do or say and besides, there were auras of pure mourning coming from his two counterpart's rooms.  
  
_Two because that's all he had left.  
_  
**Anxiety's pitch black door was gone.  
**

 

* * *

  
  
"Sorry about that class, I-"  
  
"¿Y mi prima? Where Valerie?" Asked Luíz slightly concerned about the whereabouts of his cousin.  
  
"Valerie's helping my host with something, she'll be back soon, this was her last class-"  
  
"Will your host be ok sir?"  
  
"I'm sure he will be Philla, thank you for your concern, now as I was saying clas-"  
  
" ** _That's a shame-"  
  
_** The class froze, all eyes were on one student, Eliža.  
  
The thin pale blond haired child looked disgustedly at Logic. Strange behavior for such a usually shy and quiet girl.  
  
"Mrs. Lori, **_what_** did you say?" A tad bit of anger may have slipped into his tone, with everything that happened, someone was going to insult him on top?  
  
Everyone knew that a manifestation was easily riled up when one brought up their manifestor-  
  
"I said that's a shame, I feel quite **_sorry_** for your host, he only has three-fourths of him, that's quite sad", she said mockingly. "Poor thing will never be the same again, might aswell die, he lost one of his main personalities did he not? The mains tend to be the guardians, so your host is likely to die **_eventually_** "  
  
Logic clenched his fist, but he kept his face impassive, he'd question how she knew later but the fact that she was **_blatantly_** spouting these things-.  
  
Eliža watched his hands before a smirk flitted across her small face, "I'm not wrong, am I teach? The look in your eyes and the mark on your hand says it all."  
  
Logan's eyes widened, on his arm were four visible marks, a square and three triangles.  
  
"The Square is your host, the equatorial triangle is the eldest Personality, your senior,  the isosceles triangle is the Personality younger than you, your their senior and finally the scalene triangle, it's the smallest mark meaning that it _was_ for the youngest", explained Eliža with uncharacteristic confidence.  
  
She wasn't wrong, the Square was Thomas, and the Triangles were Morality, Prince and Anxiety respectively, what was bothering him the most is how the smallest triangle looked.  
  
"It's flaking off that way because he faded, didn't he?" Smirked the blonde.  
  
The class gasped staring at the Teacher in disbelief.  
  
"He-he didn't fade did he sir?" Philla's voice shook.  
  
Logic sighed and nodded in defeat.  
"He did-"  
  
"I knew it!" Shouted Eliža, "it was probably your faul-"

  
  
" ** _Class dismissed_**!" The Teacher had enough, he just wanted to go home and grieve, he didn't need this.

  
  
" _Sure_ ", called the blonde standing up and placing her school bag on one shoulder. Her black and white striped dress crinkling from the action. "Class may be dismissed but that doesn't change the fact that I'm right, there are only two ways a main Personality fades, they either become **_one of those_** , mere shadows of themselves, or they faded because they sacrificed themselves for their host"  
  
The class was quiet, the students didn't know what to think.

  
  
_"He saved your host didn't he?"_

Logic nodded solemnly.

  
  
_"You're pathetic-"  
_

  
"Come on, do you need to be so harsh? He just lost his youngest counterpart-" started Philla.

  
  
Some of the class rallied behind her with _"yeah's”,_ " _give him a break"_ and a few _"cut him some slack"_

  
  
Eliža rounded on the new girl, pointing her index finger with full force.  
  
"He **lost** the youngest, he's a secondary manifestation, he's supposed to help the Prominent with the younger ones, the elder even came here  to get **_him_** "  
  
Murmurs broke out amongst the students but no one could make out what they said but them.  
  
The blonde turned and pointed at the Teacher.  
  
"You let your youngest counterpart die, tell me if you couldn't protect him, **_how could you possibly protect us?"  
_**  
Logic opened his mouth to say something, but resigned, closing his mouth his mouth, he bowed his head, _what could he do?_  
  
"I thought so", said Eliža, but instead of her voice being snarky and snobbish like before, it sounded **_broken_**.  
  
Everyone turned, the girl's demeanour changed, her hands clenched into fists and tears streamed down her face.  
  
"I wish... I wish you said something"  
  
The entire class seemed confused at her statement, and then....  
  
And then there were _three Eližas.  
_  
The one on the right was in a black and white business suit, she had her hair in a bun. On the left side, the other had brown hair instead of blond, she was in a T-shirt and jeans. The Eliža in the middle was the original, tears kept streaming down her face, while her manifestations stood by her in support.  
  
"You teach all these Veiwers how to see manifestations and find manifestors, but the thing is we're dying out, there are hardly any manifestors anymore, if we can't count on our own manifestations to protect us, _then who can we count on?"_  
  
With that all three Eližas stormed out of class, right on time for the bell to ring, everyone else followed after, leaving the Teacher alone in the classroom.

 

* * *

  
  
Logic erased the board, his hands shook and his chest ached. His eyes stung and he was vaguely aware of the lump in his throat. It wasn't till he felt the moisture down his cheeks did he realized he was crying.  
  
A late response, **_wonderful_**.  
  
He realized too late what Anxiety was trying to do, _contact with Thomas could have probably saved him_. He realized too late what Prince meant, _he didn't show the youngest how much he cared._ He realized too late what Morality meant, _couldn't he have dropped his facade and shown any emotion at all?_ He knew what Eliža meant now, he was right suspecting her as a manifestor but he failed to realize that _all the child wanted was protection_. **_Something he failed to provide.  
  
_** It's funny really, Teacher's hated when students were tardy and yet here he was, the latest of them all.  


_When student shows up tardy, they only affect one person in the class.  
**When a Teacher is tardy, they affect everyone else.**_

 

* * *

 

**AN//: aaaaay, How you guys liking the new angst train? Everyone comfy? How are the seats? Well these renovations weren't cheap.**

**_*passes out custom silver buckets to everyone*_ **

**Please donate your angsty tears, or tears of joy, into the given bucket. It's both our currency and our fuel, so don't worry, the train is eco-friendly :)**

**COMMENT OF THE WEEK**

**By: Mother_Porcelain**

**"There is no starting point to begin on the topic of how much... YOU PLAYED MY GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING HEART STRINGS LIKE A GUITAR. I THOUGHT THOMAS WAS GONNA DIE. THEN THERE WAS THE BLUE CREATURE. YOU, TRICKY ONE, HAVE TIRED ME OUT!!! But the fluff was so cute everything just flushed away**


	13. Remnant Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y’all should trust me more ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

* * *

 

**_Knock  Knock  
_**  
He didn't know when, but his legs gave out and he ended up sinking to the floor.  
  
**_Knock  Knock  
_**  
The lights of the classroom dimmed, making his mood even more sour.  
  
**_Knock Knock  
_**  
He drew his legs up to his chest, arms crossed over them, and buried his head in his knees.  
  
**_Knock  Knock  
  
_** His body shook, wracked with sobs that refused to come out.  
  
**_KnoCK  KnoCK  
_**  
He should go home, another class would be taking place soon and it would do him no good to be there when they came in.  
  
**_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!  
  
_** He shoul-  
  
**"Logic!"  
**  
“Wha-?” His head shot up.  
  
**"LoGiC!"  
**  
The room began to shake.  
  
**_"LOGAN!"  
_**  
Brown eyes snapped open with a gasp.

* * *

  
  
Logic sat up with a start, gasping, choking and sputtering into awareness.  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his chest, his heart was racing and he had yet to catch his breath.  
  
**He was in his room.  
**  
"It's just a dream, a simple dream", muttered the Teacher to himself.  
  
"Just images my mind created due to stress-"  
  
"Logan?"  
  
The Logical personality jumped, eyes snapping open to see Morality.   
  
"Hey, you ok?", he asked gently as he placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I-I'm fine...i-it was just a dream, I'm fine-"  
  
"You don't look fine to me Logic"  
  
He was about to ask what the other meant, when Dad gently cupped his cheek. _He froze_ , Morality's warmth, ironically, sent a shiver up his spine.  
  
"You're crying Logan", whispered the Father, as he brushed away the tears with his thumb, "I'm worried, I've never seen you cry"  
  
Logic lowered his head, **_"Do you even care at all?",_** Prince's voice still ringing in his ear.  
  
Morality gently lifted his counterpart's chin again. "Hey it’s alright, nightmares can be pretty startling to lots'a people"  
  
Dad frowned when Logic didn't respond, he let go of the other's chin to place both hands on each shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it? Tell me what it was about, I promise it will help"  
  
Logic didn't respond.  
  
Morality's brows knitted together, his eyes widened when he realized, "it was about Anxiety wasn't it?"  
  
This time Logic nodded.  
  
" _Oh Logan_ , he's ok I promise", the Father pulled his counterpart to his chest, Logic like usual didn't reciprocate, but he leaned to the touch.   
  
Seeing as the younger didn't push him away, Morality took it upon himself to comfort him, gently rubbing soothing circles on his back.   
  
"Anxiety's doing alright, I just came out of his room just a few minutes ago, kiddo's sound asleep"  
  
Logan didn't say anything, so the Parent shifted, moving his hands to pull something out of his pocket.  
  
"See, you left your glasses in his room", gently the Father wiped his eyes and placed them on the Teacher's face. He smiled softly at the younger before pulling him back into a hug.  
  
Logic didn't move, he knew Dad was offering comfort and he accepted it whole heartedly, his eyes had yet to cease watering and he didn't know why. It was irrational to cry because of a dream, but yet here he was. His chest ached and the lump in his throat refused to go away.  
  
"Morality?...", he just had to ask.  
  
The Father looked down fondly at him, "Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think...?"  
  
Dad waited, he knew Logic was trying to sort out his thoughts, the Secondary personality truly had a difficult time with emotions.  
  
"Do you think I'm heartless?"  
  
Morality frowned, was the nightmare that bad?  
"You're not...", he paused, "the best with emotions, but that doesn't make you heartless, a little cold maybe", he smirked and shrugged his shoulder, causing the other's head to lift, Logic pouted.   
  
Dad lifted his chin again, "you're not heartless Logan, you just have trouble with emotions and that's ok, not everyone knows how to well, emotion, you're a logical person, you like things you can solve, sometimes there's no reason for emotions, one day you're happy and the next moment your all down in the dumps, and that's ok too, besides emotions aren't your type of equation"  
  
Logic's lips twitched.  
  
Morality smiled.  
  
"Thank you Morality", said the Teacher. And for the first time he noticed that his bed was covered in papers.  
  
"Any time-what are these?" Queried the Father, he picked one up, it was a picture of a little girl, _oh it was a file_ , a student file. He read it aloud.  
  
"Name: Philla Rahadeev, Type: Veiwer, Age: 15, Nationally: Indian"  
  
Morality grabbed another paper, Logic broke from the embrace and began doing the same.  
  
"Name: Luíz Torres- hey Torres, that's Valerie's last name, is he-"  
  
"They're cousins-"  
  
"That's pretty neat, it says here he doesn't speak English very well, hmm, maybe you could ask Valerie to help translate?"  
  
"That would be the best idea, yes," the Teacher's tone was flat and hollow   
  
Morality picked up on it instantly.  
  
"Logic? Are you doing alright?"  
  
"I'm fi-"  
  
"Logan", you couldn't lie to Morality when he used that tone.  
  
Logic sighed.  
  
"My substitute sent me these files along with the lessons left from my two week absence-"  
  
"You were asleep when I came in"  
  
The Logical personality blushed a bit recalling the tie.  
  
"I was, I woke up sometime later to check my emails and I saw the files, so I printed them, I was studying the material and going over the files, I fell asleep for a second time it seems"  
  
"That would explain the papers, but it doesn't explain your nightm-"  
  
The Parent cut himself off, Logic had tears streaming down his face again.  
  
"It was vivid, Morality, so vivid I almost thought it real- I- I thought... ** _he faded_** , right in front of me, _in front of you_ , he was **_in_** Prince's arms and- and Thomas was screaming and I-"  
  
Dad brought him back into an embrace, sure the Teacher didn't like emotions, but he did have them. Logic was never one for big extravagant noises, so Morality wasn't surprised when he didn't hear the younger bawling. There were the occasional hiccups, but it was hardly anything to a sob.  
  
The Parent knew very well how the other felt, this was taking a toll on him too.  
  
With gentle hands he rubbed the other's back again. Logan's form trembled with each ragged breath, his shoulders shook as if he were sobbing, _but he wasn't._   
  
Logic's quiet cry reminded him of Anxiety's, the younger didn't make a sound during his attacks, it was always in silence, so much so that if you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't have ever noticed.

* * *

  
  
When Logic finally settled from his tremors and into sniffles, Morality willed up some tissues, gently helping the younger wipe his eyes.  
  
When that was over the Father grabbed the Teacher by his hand and pulled him out of his room.  
  
"Morality where-?"  
  
The elder personality didn't say anything, he just kept walking.  
  
Logic's eyes widened when he realized where they were going, Anxiety's room.  
  
Once there, Dad gave him a reassuring smile and opened the door.  
  
"He's just fine, I promise, see?"  
  
And he saw.  
  
Anxiety was curled up on his side, just as he had seen him in his dream, the younger was facing him with that neutral expression, _there was still no smile.  
_  
The only difference, from his dream was that the little blue bird was snuggled up in the crook of Anxiety's neck and that there was a cold cloth on his forehead, no doubt supplied by Morality.  
  
Speaking of, the Father glanced at him a sighed.  
  
"He'll be ok Logan, and I'll tell you what, if, _and that is a **big if** ,_ something were to happen, I'll get you, I will run to you immediately, ok?"  
  
Logic wanted to tell him that's _exactly_ what happened in his dream, but he refrained.  
  
Instead he gave the Parental a small nod.  
  
Seemingly satisfied, Morality gently closed Anxiety's door.  
  
"He'll be fine, I'm staying all day to watch over him, now come on I made pancakes for breakfast"  
  
Logic paused, _he made pancakes in his dream._  


* * *

 

The children were already there, all five of them were around the table, happily munching on their own little stacks of brown happiness. Pranks, "Steven" and Misleading Compliment were having a race, while the siblings, the Sister and brother, were the judges.

 

Logic swallowed thickly.

 

“G-good Morning”, he silently hoped none of them noticed his stutter, he’d have to remain impassive to everything today, less he have another breakdown.

 

_He didn’t see Morality frown._

 

“Good Morning!”, They chorused, though the three “racers” had their mouths full.

  


The Logical Personality carefully sat down as Morality brought him a stack. Thanking the Father, Logan began cutting his pancakes, trying his best to hide the fact that his hands were shaking. He had lost his appetite the moment Morality mentioned pancakes, but he willed himself to eat, he couldn’t have the others worrying about him, not when Anxiety was still at risk.

 

* * *

 

It was almost 8:00am and Logic had just finished eating when various shouts of “Thanks for breakfast!” resounded through the living room.

 

Morality chuckled.

“You’re very welcome kiddos, but don’t forget your chores”

 

The children gave their affirmative shouts and scrambled in different directions, Pranks and "Steven" went to do the dishes and Misleading Compliment went to throw out the trash, while the siblings cleaned up the table and chairs.

 

Logic had to remind himself that this was their routine and they did this almost every morning, _it was a dream Logan enough-_

Morality’s daughter came up to him.

"Are you going back to school today?" asked the little girl.  
  
"I am, I’ll be teaching six classes today"

 

“Isn’t that a lot?”

 

“It is…but I do enjoy teaching…”, he trailed off awkwardly, but the child seemed to understand what he meant.  
  
She nodded and continued her given task along with her brother.  
  
The Teacher gave her a small smile before thanking Morality for the food and heading to his room.   
  
Opening the door, under his control, it changed from a room to a familiar parking lot in front of a familiar school.  
  
**_Dread filled his very being.  
_**  
With a deep inhale, he headed towards the building and walked inside.  


* * *

 

 

There were multiple gasps and murmurs of "you're back!", "he's here!", "yo teach!"

 

"Good Morning class"

 

He gave them a smile, it felt beyond fake but he doubted they’d notice.

 

"Aright, settle down", called the Teacher, "I am back and I do apologize for my absence, but that’s not important right now, your substitute teacher has informed me of how far you've all reached with the given material and I'm quite proud of you all-"

 

He changed his greeting slightly, _maybe it would make a difference._

 

Loud cheers and applause filled the room but it quieted down rather quickly when Logic raised his hand.

 

He gave a small nod to the class before continuing.

 

"On that note, it seems that we have acquired some new students", he looked at two teens, Luíz Torres and Philla Rahadeev. Luíz was wearing exactly the same thig he was in the dream, a lime green jacket, a beanie and jeans. While Philla was the difference, she wore a plain light pink blouse and jeans, _no long sleeved shirt._

"Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

 

The boy spoke up first, raising his hand, his crinkling from the motion.

 

**_“_** **Soy Luíz Torres** ", Logic blinked, **oh, so the boy was much more confident than his dream portrayed, _good_.  
**  
The boy seemed to notice his vacant look, " _perdoname maestro pero_ ", he stumbled out, "I not speak very good English"  


**_Nevermind._ **

  
"That's quite alright, tell us something about yourself Mr. Torres, your favorite food, hobby, your family, anything at all really"  
  
"Oh, um", he began listing off his fingers, " _me gusta leer, verde es mi color favorito, y, um.._.",

****

**His favorite color was _green not red,_ it was such a small change and it did nothing to calm his fraying nerves down _._**

 

The Teacher watched as Luíz looked around the class until his eyes locked on and he pointed to a student in front of him, " _y Valerie es mi prima_ , she my cousin"  
  
Logic blinked, **_he didn’t even notice her,_** Valerie gave him a worried glance. He gave her a reassuring smile in turn before redirecting his attention back to the boy.  
  
"That would explain the similar last names, I'm sure you know as much English as I know Spanish, so Valerie could be our translator", he turned back to Val, "how does that sound to you?"  
  
She gave him a fake smile ** _, she was worried_** , “of course, c _laro que sí maestro_ "  
  
"Thank you, Valerie”, said girl obviously wanted to ask him what was wrong but was wisely waiting, he internally thanked her for that.  
  
"Now how old are you Mr. Torres?"  
  
" _Dieciséis_...", he trailed off pausing in concentration until he snapped his fingers, "Sixteen!"   
  
The class applauded and Valerie gave him a thumbs up.  
  
"Well done, welcome to the class-"  
  
" _Gracias maestro_ "  
  
Logic gave him a nod. "Now, most if not all of you can tell, that while he didn't say, Mr. Torres is a partial manifestor", the boy suddenly looked sheepish.  
  
Logic shook his head fondly, "I'm sure it was just _lost in translation_ -"  
  
The class laughed and he winced internally, sure he kept the joke but he only expected half the class to laugh, not all of them.

  
"Now, how many of you can sense his personalities? Can you guess how many there are?"  
  


All raised their hands, _again he didn’t expect all._  


  
"Alright, sans the other four partials and Valerie, you can all answer together-"  
  
"FOUR!" Bellowed the class.  
  
Logic nodded, then he looked towards Luíz, the boy laughed and nodded, "would you like to introduce them?"  
  
The boy nodded again, his eyes glazed over for the briefest of seconds and then his posture changed. He sat up straighter, more attentive.  
  
" _Buenos dias maestro, soy Miguel_ ", he said politely.  
  
Luíz blinked and then slouched.  
  
" _Soy Pablo_ ", this one had a smirk.  
  
Luíz blinked again, posture much more open, but less disrespectful.  
  
"I am Juan", he smiled.  
  
Luíz blinked once more, his body attempted to shrink into the chair.  
  
"S-soy _Jorge_ ", said this one timidly, that was all he said, the class laughed a bit before Luíz' eyes glazed over for another brief second.

 

The boy blinked rapidly before sitting up like he was before, Luíz was back in charge.

**_Calm down Logan, you only got this part right because of the file, the substitute had to give a brief discussion about each partial personality, for safety reason obviously._ **

"Thank you very much Mr. Torres, like I had mentioned before, we have other partials, with you makes five, let's see if that number goes up, hmm?"  
  
The class was filled with positive murmurs and chatter.  
  
"Alright, now before we go on to the next student, I'd like to tell you today's topic, It's Manifestation identification"  
  
Annoyed groaning and more murmurs, came from the students.  
  
"Yes, yes, it’s a very amusing name, but it **_is_** important, while it's easier to tell how many main personalities a young partial has", he gestured to Luíz and the four others, "how could you tell the number of main personalities a manifestor has? And how can you do that from only viewing a single personality?"  
  
The class was quiet.  
  
"Anyone?" asked the Teacher.  
  
**Philla raised her hand,** he swallowed thickly, _how much of this dream was coincidental?_ **  
**  
"Ah, the new student, alright my dear, let's kill two birds with one stone shall we? You can introduce yourself and answer the question while you're at it, hmm?"

  
The girl nodded at him.  
  
"I'm Philla Rahadeev", introduced the young girl.  
  
"It's nice to meet your acquaintance Ms. Philla, tell us something about yourself, if you'd like"  
  
"Well, uh, I-I'm  fifteen,  I’m from India and I moved out here two years ago, but um, I have a-a question for you sir"

_This was crazy._  
  
"Do ask"  
  
"Are y-you a manifestation?" The brown skinned girl asked sheepishly.  
  
Logic smiled gently at her. Behind that smile he was freaking out.

_Okay, okay stay calm, ask the same question, she can’t possibly answer it the same way._  
  
"That I am, very astute Ms. Philla, I sense quite a bit of power from you, I realize you were given another question but I think this one will help you answer that one a bit clearly, can you guess how many counterpart's I have? And tell me how you guessed that number"  
  
The girl seemed to panic for a slight moment, the Teacher looked curiously at her.

_Will she answer the same way?_

Philla took it as a challenge, narrowing her brown eyes, she stared at him with concentration.

"Two", she said finally, "there's three marks on you, each personality has a mark of their counterpart's and one from their host, the mark could be anything, like a color, shape, an or an article of clothing, you just have to look hard enough, you only see the marks if you're looking for them", the girl gave her explanation proudly, before shrinking down again, nervously gripping onto her long, black braid, "so there's three of you total to one host right?"  
  
Logic shook his head.

_She did-_

“Wait!”

The teacher looked at her shocked.

“There’s four, four of you to one host, I barely saw the last mark, it’s a small scalene triangle”

**_She saw the mark_**.  
  
"Well done, I am indeed one of four main manifestations from my host, you have very impressive skills as a Viewer Ms. Philla, you'll fit right in"  
  
The class gave her a round of applause and a few students even high-fived her! The young Indian girl smiled, relieved, she'd be making friends on her first day.  
  
Logic was impressed, proud, relieved and worried. The girl saw the three marks, but the darker part of his mind noted that **_Anxiety's mark was weak,_** it didn’t show as clearly and that scared him ** _.  
  
_** Shaking his head slightly to avoid any more morbid thoughts, he continued with the class.  
  
"Now as Ms. Philla had mentioned, each manifestation bears a mark, one from their host and the rest from their counterparts, as for the partials, they bear a mark too, an individual aura and each has their own signature posture, speech patterns and behaviour"

* * *

 

To avoid a long discussion about the dynamics of a Personality's mark, _and to avoid using his voice_ , the Teacher gave them a simple in class assignment, to describe the differences between the marks on a type of personality vs their counterparts and the mark of their host.   
  
Logic sat down shakily and tried to keep his breathing under control, he knew very well that the lump in his throat would obstruct his voice, it would be shaking too.  
  
He watched over his class as they happily worked together in pairs.  
  
The Teacher exhaled. _It was just a stupid dream!_  
  
He blinked, Valerie came up to him. Logic frowned slightly, she was paired with Luíz and was sitting by him only a few seconds ago.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fi-"  
  
"Don't lie-"  
  
Was he that bad at lying?  
  
"Is Thomas ok?"  
  
"He's alright”

**_A lie, he didn't even check on his host today_** _._  
"He's doing much better than last week"  
**_A half truth.  
_**  
Valerie squinted at him.  
  
"He's fine, Val, now please take your seat, you have an assignment to finish"  
  
The Veiwer sighed and nodded, returning to her seat and Luíz. Logic had a feeling that she'd be watching him more closely.

* * *

  
  
Logic sighed as he buried his head in his arms. His classes went well, he had kept his irrational panic to himself, no one had noticed and with three classes down, he only had three more to go.  
  
Currently he was on his lunch break, in his "office".  
  
Of course he didn't bring any food, he would usually get a free meal from the Teacher's lounge, but he didn’t feel like eating.  
  
As a matter of fact, all he felt was _tired_. Not physically tired, he's dealt with many a sleepless nights before. He wasn’t mentally tired, he knew very well how that felt.  
He simply felt some form of “tired”, like as if a weight were tugging and pulling down from his chest, it left a hollow feeling. Not knowing what it was, he resorted to is number one source, _Google_. After dismissing all the cancer results, his symptoms matched up to one thing, **_Emotional exhaustion_**. He groaned, _emotions were the bane of his existence.  
  
_ Sighing he checked the time on his phone, it was almost 1:00pm. The next class he'd have to teach, started at one and ended at 3:00, well 2:45 but still.  
Heading to a classroom, he swallowed thickly and steeled himself, this was the class it happened. With everything being so coincidental, could you blame him for being a bit paranoid?  
  
With an exhale to calm himself, he prepared for the class.  


* * *

  
  
"Can anyone tell me the value of X?" Asked the Teacher as he copied the equation, from his books in his hand, onto the board.  
  
Logic stretched, slightly trembling as wrote at the top of the white board, having looked up, he couldn’t help but look out of his peripheral vision to see the bright blue clock above him. He kept glancing _between the door and then at the clock, then back to the door, **the clock said 2:00**_ \- he turned to the door and froze.  
  
A figure was standing at the door, in blue and gray.

* * *

  
  
The figure opened the door and he was glad that he froze, if he had moved, he'd probably make a fool of himself.  
  
A browned skinned lady stepped partially in class, her calve length dress was light blue with gray sleeves and sides. She looked at him and mouthed 'sorry' before making a gesture to one of his students.  
  
Surprisingly, Philla stood up, if the child had slightly lighter skin, the class would be able to see the blush that should undoubtedly be there.  
  
"Here you go dear", said the lady as she gave the child a pink long sleeved cotton jacket.  
  
" _Mom_ ", whined the girl in embarrassment, she quickly pulled it on and hugged her mother.  
  
"Thanks Mom", she whispered, but the whole class was so silent, they heard her. Having put on her jacket Philla ran back over and took her seat.  
  
Logic's heart was pounding, for that spilt second....it was absolutely terrifying.  
His eyes watered slightly and his throat stung, **_he still had ten minutes to wait._**  
  
"Alright, I'll leave this one the board for you guys, try it yourselves, you'll see it’s really quite simple"  
  
_He thanked the heavens that Thomas was such a good actor._   
  
Logic sat down at the desk, his hands were shaking so badly, he had to put the marker down to avoid dropping it.  
  
He scanned the class, the students attempting or pretending to figure out the problem. After about a minute the Teacher's eyes drifted to that clock and he glanced at the door very carefully.

Logic nearly jumped, when Valerie suddenly appeared in front of him.  
  
"The answer is four", she said quietly, placing her book on his desk with a _'Plap'  
_  
"It is, well done-"  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
"I-"  
  
"You jumped when Philla's mother came in, were you expecting someone?"  
  
"N-"  
  
The girl's eyes widened, "Philla said she could barely see the smallest mark, I can barely see it, _what_ happened to Anxiety?"  


* * *

  
  
Sure she wasn't fond of the young personality, as a matter of fact she hardly knew him.  
  
During that Valentine’s Day video, they had only chatted once or twice, he was nice enough, if not a bit snarky.  
  
But he was still her friend's manifestation, meaning if he was ill, something could be wrong with Thomas.  


* * *

  
  
Logic watched the realization in her eyes.  
  
"Anxiety's sick-"  
  
"How sick? Does it affect Thomas?"  
  
"Thomas seems fine, if not tired, Anxiety's... _getting better_?"  
  
The Veiwer bit her lip.  
  
The Teacher sighed.  
  
"He was asleep, quite peacefully, when I left this morning-"  
  
"Do you want to go check on him? I can take over the class for the time being"  
  
Once again Logic thanked the heavens, Thomas and his amazing friends.  
  
He wanted to leave, he really did, but he was afraid, the Dream... _today_ , everything had just been so coincidental, he didn't want to risk it.  
  
"No thank you Valerie, but you can check up on him this evening if you'd like"  
  
The girl agreed, but her eyes seemed so sad.  
  
" _You know_...", she raised a brow, " _you did offer_..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Class, Ms. Torres got the answer correct, would you like to explain to the class how you got it Valerie?"  
  
He handed the marker to her with a small smile, hoping she wouldn't see his shaking.  
  
She gave him a 'how dare you' glare before shaking her head and smiling.  
  
Valerie wrote on the board, gently giving her explanation to the class, Logic exhaled, he was glad she was good at this, because he couldn't really feel his legs.  


* * *

  
  
His last two classes went smoothly, by the time Valerie finished explaining and answering questions, the bell rang. He dismissed the students without an issue.  
  
Both his final two classes were English, he ignored the dread that had built up since 2:00pm. He was very worried of what he'd find when he went home.  
  
He had the students write an essay or short story based on either of five given topics. At this moment he was in his last class, checking the work of his previous. Cringing at the run on sentences and bad grammar, he reminded himself that he'd prefer this to Anxiety fading.  
  
It was strange when all the students passed that day, Mr. Logan's English classes were notoriously challenging, to see him grade so leniently was a miracle, **_or the coming of doom_**.

* * *

  
  
When Logic finished his last class it was 5:00pm. After clearing his desk for the day and bidding his good evening's for the day. He teleported to the parking lot and thus to his room.  
  
From there he quickly popped up to check on Thomas…  
  
The boy was red faced, he was sitting next to Prince on the stairs, _the Royal was crying._

* * *

  
  
The mini heart attack Logic had would have been legendary.  
  
"T-Thomas?"  
  
"Oh hey Logic, how was school?"  
  
The Logical personality frowned, Thomas sounded too cheery.  
  
"Um, good?" He gestured to Prince, concern evident in his movement "Wha-?"  
  
The host laughed.  
  
Logic jumped.  
  
"Don't laugh at me Thomas, it's a very sad death, they just shot her mercilessly!"  
  
The thoroughly confused Teacher looked towards his manifestor.  
  
"Top 40 Disney deaths, we finished Bambi"  
  
Logic facepalmed.  
  
Shaking his head, he sank down and into his room. When he removed his hand from his face, it was wet.  
  
A tear or too trickled down his face, Thomas and Prince were fine, he'd check on Morality later, but for now...  
  
He quickly wiped his eyes and went straight to Anxiety's room, _he needed to make sure.  
_

* * *

  
  
He only knocked once and the door opened to reveal Anxiety....   
  
He was standing at the door curiously, probably having just walked in.  
  
"G-good evening Anxiety-"  
  
"Uh evening? You doing alright teach?"  
  
"I'm quite alright, but how are you? Are you feeling-?"  
  
**"Soup"**  
  
Logic was taken aback.  
  
"What?"  
  
" _ **Soup,**_ all day Morality's been feeding me soup"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, he woke me up and for breakfast I got one pancake and a bowl of chicken soup"  
  
Logic stared blankly.  
  
"For lunch he made this weird pasta thing with tomato soup-"  
  
"Was it good?"  
  
"I mean yeah, but still, soup"  
  
"Well it _is_ one of the foods that are associated with caring for the ill"  
  
"I know but, I'm sick of soup, a couple of minutes ago when I wanted a snack, I got Goldfish and tomato soup"  
  
The teacher was gonna say something-  
Anxiety raised his hand to cut him off.  
  
"It was good but I swear if I have soup for dinner I'm going to lose my mind-"  
  
Logic shook his head, smiling slightly, it would seem that Anxiety was doing better.  
  
"I'll tell him that for you-"  
  
"Thanks"  
  
With that the darker personality gave him a small appreciated nod and closed the door.

* * *

  
  
Anxiety sighed, technically he didn't lie...  
  
He simply avoided Logic's question about how he was feeling.  
  
Because currently, **_the room was spinning.  
_**  
He had thrown up twice today, both times the soup came up thick and viscous, as if his body didn't want to reject the food.  
  
Speaking of, _here came the Goldfish...  
_

* * *

  
  
Throwing up was never fun, he cleaned himself up and rinsed his mouth with tap water, swallowing some to get rid of the acrid taste of bile. Sure he knew pipe water wasn't too good to be drinking, but... ** _life_**.  
  
Slowly he moved towards his bed, closing the bathroom door behind him.

 

**_He was tired all of a sudden._**  
  
He flopped onto the bed with a _'Pauif'_.  
  
His eyes closing on him already...  
  
The little blue bird popped up over him and twittered, it had been playing with the kids since this morning.  
  
"I'm fine, just, _ti-erd_..."  
  
**His eyes were slowly closing.**  
_  
"Anxiety!"  
  
"Anx-"_  
  
**He could hear the voice, but it sounded so. far. away...**  
  
_He was so tired._  
  
**_Brown eyes slipped closed._**

* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay, _sooo_ , we got quite a bit of fuel last chap, the train's chugging at full speed! ;) **

**I'd like to thank you guys for your support (and the threats lmao), you're all making this worthwhile, so thanks.**

**On that note.....**

**Guys, guess what?!**

**There are more people joining us (wave hi) so how 'bout we give a little introduction?**

**This is angst train, it's on a course through angst nation, so sit back and enjoy the view.**

**The newly renovated train has plenty of space and different peeps in each section.**

**We got our cryers at the back( they power the train), the fainters on the soft matted floor a little bit in front of them, at the middle we have the emotionally numb peeps. In the front are the newbies (y'all can stay there until you find a section you like) and I'm the conductor with my apprentice and good theorist at the helm (even they're not safe) and thus we are the angst train.**

**WELCOME ;)**

**COMMENT OF THE WEEK :**

**BY Linxxyboy**

**"I DIDNT KNOW THAT SATAN WAS WRITING BOOKS THESE DAYS, LIKE WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP INSISTING TO GIVE HIM THE WIFI PASSWORD GOD DANGIT. JUST THIS ONCE COULD I READ A BOOK WITHOUT HAVING MY HEART RIPPED OUT AND THEN IMMEDIATELY STAMPED UPON BY THIS EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF FEELS YOU HAVE JUST DEPOSITED ONTO ME. LEAVE ME ALONE IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE"**

**XD**

**Btw, y'all realized last update was April 2nd right? Don't believe things till after April 5th, that's what I do, I got trust issues lmao XD.**

**Another note:**

**Because you guys keep telling me how far Sunday is, I've started a request book, y'all can request anything regarding the Sander sides and I'll write it up for ya, so far I have four oneshots done, majority is fluff and it's amusing what you guys come up with  :) I have the book up on wattpad, it’ll be coming on here soon, and it’ll probably be way more edited XD, but do leave your requests and comments.**

**See y'all in the comments ;)**

 

 

 


	14. Soup

_"Anxiety"_  
  
_"Anxiety"_  
  
" _Anx_ \- come on kiddo, time to get up"  
  
Bleary brown eyes opened a smidge.  
  
"There we go sport, up and at 'em"  
  
Anxiety groaned, turning the other way to bury his head into the pillow.  
  
Morality rolled his eyes and continued to shake the younger's shoulder, Anxiety didn't budge.  
  
"I know you’re not feeling so well slugger, but you can't sleep the whole day away"  
  
The ill personality didn't respond, having already slipped back into a deep slumber.  
  
Once more Dad rolled his eyes, he had gotten up at 5:30am, both because he wanted to bid a fair well to Prince as the Royal headed off to his meeting and because he had a nightmare.

* * *

  
  
To see Anxiety fade away into nothing, truly tore at his heart and he couldn't refrain himself from checking on the younger. He sighed in relief when he saw Anxiety and the little bird, still in the same potion they had been when he checked on them yesterday.  
  
Morality moved carefully to the younger, gently placing a hand on his forehead, the fever was finally going down. Smiling, he found a cold cloth, dampened it with cold water and placed it on the ill personality.  
  
It was then he noticed the glasses on the nightstand next to him, it was obviously Logic's, so he grabbed them gently and carefully placed them in his pocket.  
  
The Parent wanted nothing than to take them to the Teacher, but he figured that the Secondary personality would be sleeping and he really didn't want to disturb the other, especially when he had to teach today. He'd simply pass them to Logan at breakfast.  
  
With that thought in mind, Dad headed to the kitchen and made pancake batter from scratch for the kids. The little _rugrats_ would be up soon, ever the early risers, they always helped him manage the lesser emotions.  
  
Humming, he mixed the batter and prepared the pancakes, he hyper focused on the task, thinking of anything too negative in his current state would undeniably cause chaos in the mindscape, he was the Prominent personality after all.  


* * *

  
All the kids had just filed in when he heard- ** _felt it_** , the pure and utter distress. He had felt this earlier in the morning with Roman, it's what woke him from his nightmare in the first place.  
  
The Regal personality had shown no signs of having a bad dream, emotions already hidden behind false confidence and bravado by the time the father had gotten there. The Prince gave him a wave, bid him good morning and told him to wish him luck with his meeting.  
  
Leaving with no further word, the lingering stomach turning feeling went trailing after the Royal. Now Morality felt it again, this time from Logic's room.  
  
Telling the kids to help themselves, the Parent quickly made it to Logan's room. The feeling of unease grew and he couldn't help but begin knocking frantically when the other didn't respond.  
  
Finally he gave in and barged in, instantly fixating on the mumbling and whimpering Logic. His eyebrows were furrowed, his forehead was sweaty and his head was starting to toss from left to right.   
  
Morality wasted no time in shaking the younger awake. The reaction was instant, Logic shot up with a gasp, causing him to pull back in fright.   
  
Logan was mumbling about _'it being a dream'_ , his face was blank his eyes wide and his breathing erratic, Dad gently placed a hand on the Teacher's shoulder.  
  
Somehow or the other he ended up cupping the younger's face with his hand, he had never seen Logic cry before, every time he tried to brush away the big fat tears, more came out to replace them.  
  
The Teacher was scared, that's for sure, his body shook with each breath. The second embrace he had with younger was nothing but heart breaking, so he helped Logic with his breakdown. All three of them had nightmares about losing their youngest.  
  
Realizing this, he gently tugged Logic to a standing position and pulled him towards Anxiety's room, Prince didn't see the younger, perhaps that was best for him, Logic on the other hand needed reassurance. **_And that he received._**

 

After he assured Logan that the younger would be fine and that he'd inform him if anything were to go wrong, he dragged the Teacher to eat breakfast.  


* * *

  
When Logic left and the children had cleared up, he decided to wake Anxiety. Not only was his dream haunting him, but the ill personality hadn't eaten. Sure he had reassured Logan, but his own nightmare had started exactly like this, the only true difference was that he didn't wake the younger for breakfast, **_not_** something he was going to risk.  
  
As he walked to the darker personality's room, he recalled his nightmare and the coincidental occurrences so far. _Prince had woken up at 5:30am with a scream_ , **_check_** , pancakes, **_check_** , _Logic's nightmare_ , **_check_** , though the Teacher didn't cry in his dream, upset yes but there were no tears. _And then he had the option of waking or not waking Anxiety._  
  
In his nightmare, he didn't wake the darker personality, he remained in the kitchen. He only moved when the little blue bird rushed at him twittering in fear. The father wasted no time running towards the younger’s room, he made it, barging open the door, just in time to see Anxiety fade into nothing.  
  
_Yeah_... **he was waking Anxiety.  
  
**

* * *

  
  
Carefully he made his way into the room and beside the younger's bed. Dad then placed a hand on the darker personality's shoulder and shook it gently.   
  
_“Anxiety"  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
"Anx_ \- common kiddo, time to get up"  


* * *

  
  
**His eyes opened once, but he couldn't keep them open so they closed.  
  
** He opened them a second time, he could hear someone calling his name, but it was muffled as if his ears were stuffed with cotton. He was a bit dizzy and utterly confused.    
  
**Someone was shaking his shoulders** , **_rather persistently_.**  
  
His head hurt and it felt like mush, the headache was made even worse when he was suddenly pulled into a sitting position.  
  
_He groaned._ **  
**  
"None of that now, you need to eat something kiddo"  
  
"Eat?", he mumbled. The word echoed in his head so he repeated it.  
  
"Yeah,  you haven't eaten since yesterday"  
  
_Really? He couldn't really remember much about yesterday **\- his shoulder was being shaken again.  
  
**_ "Come on kiddo, I'll let you go back to sleep after, but you gotta eat something first"  
  
He was being shaken again.  
  
"Keep your eyes open-"  
_  
When did he close them?_ **  
**  
Slowly he tried to peel his eyes back open, since when were his eyelids made of lead?  
  
Anxiety's eyes had just barely opened when it happened. The little blue bird chirped loudly in his ear.  
  
Anxiety jumped, completely startled awake, the muddled "mush" feeling was gone in an instant.  
  
"Wha-?! Bird?"  
  
The dark persona blinked as the blue creature landed on his lap, looking expectedly up at him.  
  
"Yep, you're little body guard here-"  
  
The darker persona looked up at the other confused.  
  
" _Dad_?"  
  
Morality chuckled.  
  
Anxiety couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were a bit watery.  
  
"Morning kiddo", the father ruffled his hair, he pouted but he didn't bat away the offending hand. "You gave me quite a scare there for a sec"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You wouldn't wake up, and our little friend here snapped you out of it"  
  
Anxiety looked at the little bird, before picking it up gently.  
  
"You know, I'll be honest, I didn't think you were real"  
  
The bird instantly looked offended, chirping and twittering at him.  
  
Quickly he petted the thing, smoothing down its ruffled feathers.  
  
"Easy, easy, I just thought that you were a fever illusion or something, but I was right yesterday, you really are soft"  
  
The creature seemed to accept the answer.  
  
"Wait... _yesterday_...", Anxiety froze.  
  
Morality was a tad bit concerned.  
  
The younger then yelped and slapped a free hand to his forehead   
  
"Anxiety?"  
  
" ** _Yesterday was real_** ", groaned the younger as he flopped backwards on the bed, causing the little bird to fly up and then perch on his chest.   
  
" _Yes_?"   
  
Now the Father was really worried.  
  
"Princey was my pillow and Logic was making Dad jokes", he said finally, moving his hand from his face.  
  
Morality chuckled again, bit this time it sounded far more real.  
  
Sometimes the younger could be just as _dramatic_ as his opposite.

 

* * *

  
  
"Come on, let's get you up before you fall asleep again"  
  
Anxiety groaned, but allowed Morality to help him up and out of bed.  
  
Once he found his balance on wobbly legs, the two, _well three_ , the little blue bird was perched on his shoulder, made their way to the kitchen.  
  
Morality chuckled when he yawned for about the third time in the short instance.  
  
"Why am I so tired?" Complained the dark persona, "I literally slept all day on Sunday-"  
  
"Yes but now you're able to stand without help and your fever's gone down a bit"  
  
"But _still_ "  
  
"It's because you're body needs energy to heal the damage caused by the fever"  
  
"I thought energy was the reason I have the fever in the first place"  
  
Morality shrugged.  
  
Anxiety groaned and rolled his eyes, especially when Dad ruffled his hair again.  
  
"What's with you and my hair today?"  
  
"Oh nothing kiddo, I'm just glad you're alright", he gave him a smile and walked ahead.  
  
The younger personality paused and blinked, there was something in Morality's tone, the way he said that.... _It felt like something **final**_.   
  
Anxiety shook his head and ran after Dad.

* * *

  
  
"Anxiety!"   
  
Instantly the kids crowded around him.  
  
"Hey you little brats, how ya doing?"  
  
"We're good!"  
  
He smiled at them, but before he could say anything else, Morality's son pointed to the bird on his shoulder.  
  
"You're a pirate!"  
  
The little blue bird puffed proudly, Anxiety chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am"  
  
The boys laughed and Morality's daughter spoke up.  
  
"Are you going to switch your eye shadow for an eye patch or are you an emo pirate?" She smirked at him.  
  
He smirked back.  
  
"Nah, I'll just use my hair", the personality then shifted his hair to the right, the bangs did in fact reach to his cheek, completely covering his eye.  
  
"Nice", commented Pranks.  
  
  
Rolling his visible eye, Anxiety moved his hair back to its original messy style. The bird moved from his shoulder to the girl's.  
  
"Now you're a pirate Squirt"  
  
The girl bristled.  
  
"Stop calling me squirt, one day I'll be taller that you!"  
  
" _Sure_ Squirt"  
  
The boys laughed, but Anxiety spun on them too, pointing at each one.  
  
Misleading Compliment tried to hide behind Pranks, "Steven" was frozen and the boy attempted to run behind his sister.  
  
"You two", gestured the darker personality to Pranks and Compliment, "aren't even half my height and you-", he pointed to the frozen boy in the star shirt, "are shorter than she is"  
  
Anxiety then whirled around, pretending not to see the youngest child hiding behind his sister. "Where did he - oh there you are, _geez Shrimp, you're so short I didn't see ya"  
  
_ Instantly the group of children began cackling and in a blink Anxiety found himself in a group hug....the kids then tackled him to the ground.  
  
It took Anxiety a second to realize that he was now flat on his back, with five children pinning him down, he couldn't help but laugh- ** _chuckle_** , the kids were laughing too.  
  
Morality watched with a smile on his face, shaking his head at the antics of all six of his children.

* * *

  
  
"A pancake?"  
  
Currently seated at the kitchen table, the dark personality blinked, on his plate was a sole pancake.  
  
"Sorry kiddo, that's all that's left-"  
  
"Don't you usually make huge stacks?"  
  
"Usually, but it would seem like somebody ate it"  
  
Morality gave a stern look to the three children present, each had the decency to look sheepish. His son and daughter were in the living room, so that left Pranks, Compliment and Steven.   
  
With a sigh, Dad then turned back to the other personality. "I'm making soup right now, the pancake should hold you over till then right?"  
  
The glare Anxiety gave the boys at that moment, instantly sent shivers up their small spines.  
  
"Alright, if I'm only getting one pancake, you guys better have a really good reason"  
  
Steven spoke up first.  
  
_"Well, you see..."_  


* * *

  
  
"Ok, so let me get this straight, you three had a pancake eating contest?"  
  
The boys nodded.  
  
"The first one ended in a draw so you ate the rest of Pancakes as a tie breaker"  
  
They nodded again.  
  
Anxiety placed a hand on the bridge of his nose.

When he removed his hand, he stared the three straight in the eyes.  
  
"Who won?"   
  
"What?" Compliment, Pranks and Steven blinked.  
  
"You heard me, who won?"  
  
"He did", two pointed at one.  
  
Pranks waved sheepishly.   
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes.  
  
"Alright, you three are doing dishes "   
  
" Bu- ", before Compliment could protest Anxiety cut him off.   
  
"I have to wait 20 more minutes, for _soup_ , so you're doing dishes, all three of you, **_got it?_** "   
  
" _Yes Anxiety_ ", mumbled the three dejectedly.   
  
"Also..."  
  
The three paused and looked back at the dark personality.  
  
"Squirt was setting up Mario Kart, I'm getting my revenge on you three with Rainbow road"  
  
Steven's eyes widened.  
  
"You're on!"  
  
He sprinted to the couch.  
  
Pranks and Misleading Compliment shared a look, then promptly ran to the others.  
  
Morality who was watching the whole thing shook his head, Anxiety was somehow already on the couch, controller in hand. The little bird, who had been flying around the dark persona was now perched on the counter, it chirped up at him.  
  
Dad shrugged, "kids, huh?"  
  
The blue creature twittered knowingly. The Parent smiled, grabbing a small bowl and some sun flower seeds from the cupboard, he poured some for the blue bird to eat. It chirped out a 'thank you' and happily pecked at the seeds. Dad went back to making the soup.  


* * *

  
  
It was around 11am when he felt _it_.   
  
He had eaten the soup about a good two hours ago, apparently time didn't matter to his stomach, **_the chicken broth was coming back with a vengeance_**.  
  
Anxiety swallowed thickly, he didn't know what caused the strange bout of nausea _, but man was it hitting him hard_. His vision was already blurring and the room was spinning. Sighing he let his player drive off the edge of the road, but not before taking Pranks, Misleading Compliment and Steven with him. The dark personality then stood up... _shakily_.   
  
All five children stopped to look at him.  
  
He tried to play it cool.  
  
"You're driving stinks as bad as I do right now, but at least I can fix that, you three brats? _Eh_ _not so much._ I'm gonna go take a shower, **_you all need to git gud"_**  
  
With the out cries of outrage from the children behind him Anxiety headed towards his room, but before he could make his escape, Morality stopped him in the hall.  
  
"Are you alright kiddo? You look paler than before"  
  
"I'm fine, just need a showe-", he cut himself off when the Parent put a hand to his forehead.  
  
"Your fever went up", Dan frowned. "Maybe a shower with some cold water will help"  
  
Anxiety readily agreed, quickly making his way to his room. Once there, he ran to his bathroom, he practically skidded to toilet as his wobbly legs gave out, he heaved the second he lifted the toilet lid.  
  
**Thick, viscous and** - _he ignored the blood_ , spitting the foul taste away, the ill personality, slowly maneuvered his way into the shower. Morality was right, the cold water helped, though only a little. Anxiety decided to count his small blessings.  


* * *

  
  
He threw up again at 2:00pm on the dot.  
All that tomato soup and pasta thing, **_wasted_**.  
  
The dark persona groaned, not ten minutes ago, he was outside with Dad and the kids and now he had his face practically buried in the toilet, _wonderful_.  
  
Spitting into the bowl, he shakily stood up, flushed, washed his hands, washed his face, dried off and went right back outside as if nothing happened.  
  
He was determined to make sure that Dad- _well the kids would at least_ -remembered him in a happy moment. He was fading and he knew it... _or he thought so?  
_  
There was this heavy feeling that hung in the air, plus he could swear his hands went see-through for a second. Shaking his head, he thanked heavens that Thomas was such a good actor, he approached the kids and Morality with his trademark smirk, they were none the wiser.

* * *

  
  
It was 5:30pm when he went to his room, he had eaten those goddamn Goldfish and tomato soup. _He was so tired of soup!_ He was even more tired of **_throwing it up.  
_**  
Walking carefully to his room, that's exactly what Anxiety was going to do. _Honestly, why the hell was the room spinning?_

 

He was happily watching Dad attempt to beat the kids in a game of Mario Party.   
  
The dark persona groaned in relief when he reached his room, **_great_** , _now he could throw up, bathe and pass out till dinner_. Not exactly an ideal situation but it was _something_.   
  
The second his fingers left the knob, there was a knock. Groaning internally, the youngest personality opened the door only to see, Logic? The Teacher looked... _off_.  
  
"G-good evening Anxiety-"  
  
"Uh evening? You doing alright teach?"  
  
"I'm quite alright, but how are you? Are you feeling-?"  
  
**_The younger personality panicked._**  
  
"Soup"  
  
"What?"  
  
**_Might as well continue with it.  
  
_** "Soup, all day Morality's been feeding me soup"  


* * *

  
  
Morality smiled when he saw Logic, the Teacher looked.... _relived_?  
  
"Hey Logan, how you holding up?" This morning was unspoken but understood.  
  
The Secondary personality paused, placing his hand on his chin pensively.  
  
"Better", he replied after a second.  
  
The Father smiled, "that's good, I'm making dinner-"  
  
"About that...Anxiety says if he has soup one more time, he's going to go crazy, I'm not sure why, but I rather not risk it"  
  
Dad chuckled.  
  
"Alright, no soup tonight, _hmm_ , how about a-a roast!"  
  
"That's fine, but I'm not very hungry at the moment-", Logic cut himself off and took a step back, Morality was giving him **_that look_**. It was as if he were staring through the Teacher's soul.  
  
"Logan, did you eat lunch today?"  
  
"I-"  
  
"You don't like eating at school when you're stressed, and after this morning...", the Father trailed of, his tone softening a bit.  
  
The Teacher's face grew red with embarrassment.  
  
"I'm fine-"  
  
" ** _Logan_** "  
  
Logic heaved a sigh.  
  
"N-no I didn't eat"  
  
Morality sighed this time.  
  
"Thought so", he placed a hand on the bridge of his nose, honestly Logic, you should know better-"  
  
"I'm _tired_ Morality, I just want to shower and sleep, I didn't get much-"  
  
"I know", the Parent gave him a small smile, _it looked defeated_. "Just take care of yourself, _please_? We can't let this bring us down"  
  
Logan caved.  
  
"Fine, I'll eat something, but nothing too heavy, I just want to sleep after"  
  
Morality nodded and quickly got to work on making Logic something light.  


* * *

  
  
He ended up making the Teacher a grill cheese.  
  
Roman and the kids got the roast and they enjoyed it thoroughly, everyone had eaten Dinner... _except Anxiety.  
_  
Guessing that the younger had probably fallen asleep, Morality went to check on him.  
  
When he reached the darker personality's room, he knocked three times, hearing no response, Dad let himself in. Anxiety was flopped on the bed, eyes closed and breathing shallow. The Parent gave a cursory glance at the seemingly sleeping personality. **_Something was off.  
_**  
Placing a hand on the younger's forehead, he frowned, it was high again.  
  
_"Anxiety",_ he shook him gently. _  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
**"Anxiety!"  
  
"Anx-"**_ **  
**  
**No response.**  
  
Morality tried again, shaking the younger harder.  
  
" ** _Anx_** -", Dad was cut off by the blue bird, it twittered at him. Then ever so gently hopped on to Anxiety's shoulder.  
  
  
The creature chirped so loudly, that the once unconscious personality shot up with a scream and Morality had to cover his ears.

 

Anxiety gripped his chest, breathing completely erratic.  
  
" _Holy shi-_ "  
  
" **Anx** -"  
  
" _Now I know why Prince has you as his alarm clock- geez_ "  
  
" **Anx** -"  
  
" _How can something this small make that noise?_ "  
  
" **Anx-** "  
  
" _I think I'm half deaf now_ "  
  
" **Anxiety**!"  
  
" ** _What?!_** "   
  
" **Breathe**!"  
  
The younger personality was red faced, shaking and he his erratic breathing hadn't normalized. Anxiety was full on hyperventilating. Morality quickly jumped into action, sliding onto the bed, he placed a hand on the small of Anxiety's back and one in the dead center of the younger's chest.  
  
"Follow me, breathe in"  
  
The darker personality gasped, trying his best to follow.  
  
"Come on try again"  
  
He inhaled.  
  
"Breathe out"  
  
The younger gasped and coughed, his rapid breathing began again.  
  
"Anx-, easy, try again, you'll be fine, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise"  
  
Anxiety shakily inhaled.  
  
"Good, now breathe out"  


* * *

  
  
It took a good twenty minutes to get Anxiety to calm down.

 

 Morality sighed, gently running his fingers through Anxiety's hair, the younger was now curled onto his chest and holding onto him as if he were a lifeline.  
  
" _I heard you_ ", he mumbled into the blue shirt.  
  
"What was that?" Dad lowered his head to hear the younger better.  
  
" _I heard you but...I couldn't see, **I couldn't move**_ "  
  
Morality swallowed thickly.  
  
"I-i couldn't move, I couldn't open my eyes, then there was a **scream**. I know it was the bird, but it sounded so much like a scream"  
  
The bird flew onto Anxiety's shoulder, chirping gently and nuzzling his cheek apologetically. The dark personality didn't respond to it, the blue creature twittered sadly and flew off somewhere.

Morality watched it go with a small frown, but decided it was best to have the little creature go for a while, he didn’t want to jump start another attack.  
  
"It's...it's alright kiddo, it was just a dream-"  
  
"Yeah, I still got my hands", agreed the younger.  
  
" _Hands_?"  
  
"They were gone...then my arms, then the rest of me, **just like that** -"  
  
The plain morbid acceptance in Anxiety's voice, caused the Parent to choke up. "I-it won't happen, you'll be alright, I'll make sur-"  
  
" **Don't make empty promises** -"  
  
"I-"  
  
Anxiety cut him off by squeezing his midsection, the Parental understood, the younger wasn’t one for pity, he’d see the negative and hope he was wrong, _he hated false hope_. Morality continued to card his fingers through dark locks, the Father sighed once again, shakily as before but this time with unshed tears.

* * *

  
  
The two remained in silence for a good while, that is until Anxiety's stomach growled.  
  
"Hungry?" Asked the Parental coyly.  
  
The younger curled up more in embarrassment.  
  
Dad chuckled at the action.  
  
"Come on, I'll make you something to eat"  
  
The transition from the room to the kitchen was quiet, as was the return back to the room. Anxiety's dinner, unlike Logic's was a ham and cheese sandwich.   
  
Back in the room, the quiet resumed, but it wasn't as strained as the first one, this one was actually quite comforting. The eldest and the youngest personalities resumed their positions, Morality playing with the younger's hair and Anxiety using Morality as a teddy bear.

* * *

 

It was around 3am when four similar screams reverberated throughout the mindscape.   
  
Logic ran, glasses halfway on and pj's rumpled, he met Prince in the hall connecting the rooms, the Royal was also in his pj's. The two shared a look and sprinted towards Anxiety's room.  
  
Neither were surprised to see Morality already there, _though they didn't know that he was in the room from the beginning._ Anxiety was shaking, but his rapid breaths were calming down some. The youngest personality had tears streaming down his red face, **_he didn't make a sound_**.  
  
Each of them knew what happened, they all knew what the darker personality had seen in his dream, after all they've each had a similar nightmare one of their own. While Morality slowly brought Anxiety into a comforting embrace, Logic and Prince made their way on either side of the younger. Logan may have not been one for feelings and the like, but this was far too important, emotion issues be damned.  
  
They stayed together until Anxiety's breathing calmed completely, they stayed when his eyes started drooping. All of them stayed together during that night, locked in that Sander sides hug, all four eventually drifted to sleep.

 

* * *

 

  **AN:// aaaay, sooo it seems like we need to make a bit more renovations to the angst train, so enjoy this stop just past fluffvile. Morality being a dad to Anx gives me life ok? And group cuddles for the win. The chap was going to be angsty, but because of the delay, y'all get fluff, angsty fluff ;)  
  
Alright so your probably wondering what's with the day late update? Well, last week I was in some serious pain and this week it was ten times worse, plus I somehow caught a cold and for every cough, my entire body was wracked with pain. I'm heading for either surgery or therapy for my spine, I had a spinal tap two weeks ago and now I'll be getting the results. This is what happens when you live in a sad third world country :(  
  
Wish me luck you guys, I'm tripping.  
  
Anyway, down to business.  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK:   
BY MoriTiamore   
  
"YOU CANT JUST KILL ANXIETY.  
THEN BRING HIM BACK.   
THEN KILL HIM AGAIN"   
  
Heheh ;) **

UPDATE: ok so I just got out of the hospital, currently in my room, I just took some of the pain meds they gave me and **_holy hell_** , these things are super strong, HALP, it’s 6pm, I don’ wanna sleep :(


	15. The Meeting and the Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the AN y'all

 

* * *

 

_"Prince! Prince please, don't let go!"  
_  
"Anxiety? Anxiety!"  
  
Roman blinked, the darker personality was holding on to his midsection with a vice grip that would probably bruise his ribs. Not knowing what else to do, he held onto his opposite.  
  
_"Don't please Prince, I can't, I don't know how to-"_ , the younger was panicking, his body was turning translucent.  
  
"Anxiety, I-i don't know what to do?!"  
  
_"Don't let go, please!"_ The darker persona was crying, his figure shaking and trembling, his body becoming less and less corporeal, **_his grip was slipping_**.   
  
Anxiety cried even more.  
  
_"Prince!"  
_  
**He tried his best to hold on to the younger, Anxiety was almost completely see through.  
**  
_"Princey please!"  
_  
**His hold failed, the younger slipped.**  
  
_"Prince!"  
_  
**He was gone.  
**

* * *

  
  
_"Prince!"  
_  
"Prince Roman!"  
  
The Royal woke, shooting up with a gasp, only to fall back on the bed. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried his best to calm his breathing.  
  
"Prince Roman!"  
  
The sound came from outside his door.  
  
"Yes?" Croaked the royal, his eyes were still shut and he remained on the bed, as his chest continued its rapid rise and fall.  
  
"M'lord, may I remind you that you have a meeting to attend"  
  
The aforementioned Prince groaned, blinking his eyes open, he slowly sat up.  
  
"M' lord-"  
  
"Yes, I heard you, thank you Geoffrey"  
  
"Very good sir, you are expected to be there in half an hour, please try not to fall asleep sire"  
  
"Don't worry, I won't", the Royal stood up, body shaking, _"not after that terrible dream"_ , he muttered to himself.  
  
He got ready quickly and as much as he wanted to see Anxiety, he refrained, his hands still trembled and his heartbeat was just starting to normalize.  
  
Prince was about to walk out the door leading to his castle, when there was a knock on his _other_ door.  
  
He had three doors in his room, the brown one on the far left was the door to the grand bathroom, the other, a large gold and red door, opened out to his castle hallway, ( _or the entrance to his castle if he so choosed_ ), the other door was just red and it lead to the hall connecting to the commons.  
  
**Morality, stood at the red door.  
**  
The Father's face was just a tad flushed, but the concern was evident.  
  
"Are you alright Roman?"  
  
He smiled at the Parent.  
  
"I'm fine thank you, I would love to stay and chat but I have a meeting to attend, wish me luck", with a small wave, he turned on his heels and headed through the gold door. Once on the other side, he stepped into the castle hallway with a shaky exhale, the pristine white walls, tiles and glass windows did nothing to soothe him.

 

 He knew very well that Morality had sensed his nightmare induced distress, the Father was quite perceptive when it came to such things. However, he had no time to be comforted by his elder, no matter how much he wanted to, _his hands had yet to cease shaking_.  
  
Muttering to himself to "get a grip", the Royal clenched his fists and marched regally to the kitchens, he gave no sign of his panic, _he was a Prince after all_.  
  
Carefully he picked out an apple, a pear and a handful of grapes, they were washed for him and placed decoratively on a platter by some maidens. Thanking the three kitchen maidens for their assistance, he made his way to the Conference room.  
  
As it was still early no one minded that he brought in food with him, especially since he was just picking on fruits, _you couldn't fault a growing Prince for fruit.  
_  
He finished his grapes quietly while looking around, many of the seats were filled in, though quite a few remained empty as of yet. The majority present were other royals and or advisors but there were a handful of lesser emotions as well.  
  
He gave a nod to a fellow royal who was eating a tangerine, and another to one with watermelon, glad to see he wasn't the only one that skipped breakfast.   
  
By the time he finished the final bite of his pear, the last of the fruit on his plate, and thanked the young maid that relived him of his platter and provided him with a handkerchief, all the seats were filled.  
  
**The meeting began.  
**

* * *

  
  
Thomas woke with a gasp.... _and then a groan_.

 

Picking up his phone, he checked the time, six o'clock, far too early to be up. What's worse is that his body decided to betray him, it wanted to drink water and pee, _at the same time_. Groaning at the fact that meant he either had to get up and go to the kitchen or get up and go to the bathroom.   
  
In the end he decided to ignore his body, turned to his side and promptly went back to sleep.  


* * *

  
  
Roman wished he could back to sleep, this meeting was one of _the boringest- wait no, most boring he'd ever been in, **wouldn't Logic would be proud**. _ By and by, he was bored out of his mind, though he refused to show it, he had a reputation to uphold after all.  
  
With an internal sigh, his eyes refocused on the lesser emotion speaking at the front.  
  
In his kingdom, every meeting was set up in the Conference room, this included a grand mahogany table that stretched from one end of the room to the next, bear in mind this was in fact a **_castle_** , so to say that the conference room was rather large, would be an understatement. _It could easily seat at least sixty to eighty people._  
  
At the front of the table, _where all attention was focused_ , was a stage, above it was large white board with a pull down projector screen hanging in front of it and a projector off to the side upon a desk.  
Currently, the screen displayed a bright red line graph and a lesser emotion was explaining it to everyone in the room, truly Prince had no idea who the emotion was or what exactly the other was saying but he made an effort to look attentive as possible.  
  
Every now and again his eyes would wonder across the room. Many familiar and unfamiliar faces spread across his field of vision.   
  
Funny thing about being in Thomas' mind, the boy never forgot a face, whatever stranger he'd meet on the street would sooner or later become a form for a lesser emotion. So it was very plausible that some of his Fanders could be the face of a lesser emotion.  
  
Some of the more common emotions even took the form of friends, for example the twins Love and Lust, looked like Joan. Deppression, Envy and Jealousy looked like Dodie, Talyn and Terrence respectively, and anger for some reason looked like Jon cozart.  
  
They were also the other royals like Prince Leo, Princess Valerie, Princess Gina, Prince Dominic and their royal advisors Dahlia, Ben J. Peirce, Alex and Fariha. Unfortunately for Roman none of his friends were present at this meeting, likely busy at their own kingdoms. Each Kingdom had a certain number of lesser emotions as their "common people".  
  
**As both a Prince and a main personality, Roman had the highest ranking and the largest kingdom, after all, _his was the first formed_.**  


* * *

  
  
Thomas woke up again at 9:27am to a sharp stabbing pain in his lower abdomen, groaning he rolled out of bed to go pee. After finishing his business, he headed to the kitchen, grabbing a cold glass of water to soothe his dry throat.  
  
The manifestor felt quite... _odd_ this morning. Usually he'd describe the feeling as foreboding, as if something bad were to happen, only thing is, _he didn't feel nervous_. But then again, Anxiety was out of commission so that was par for the course, however that still didn't explain why his hands were shaking.  
  
Rolling his eyes he went to the counter and grabbed his pills, the therapist told him he'd need to take two a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, or latest at dinner. He took a pill in his hand, placed it on his tongue, took a swig of water and swallowed it with ease. Of course it would make him drowsy in about two hours, so he'd have to fight it a bit around lunch time if he wanted to maintain his somewhat semblance of a sleep schedule.  
  
Huffing at the thought, he grabbed the cereal out of the cupboard, he hated the feeling of using a spoon with his non-dominant hand but screw it, he was both hungry and lazy. Pouring himself a bowl of cereal, and fumbling a bit with the spoon, the host ate in relative peace. Until of course he got mad with his inability to get the last bit of milk out.

 

He had managed to gather all the cereal onto his spoon and finish it, but that left quite a bit of milk in his bowl. He struggled slightly to lower the milk level but to no avail, eventually he gave up with the spoon, lifted the bowl and drank the remaining liquid. Satisfied with his breakfast, Thomas put away his dishes, headed to the bathroom and washed the milk moustache off his face.

With the offending " _milkstache_ " gone he began brushing his teeth, again something else he found hard to do with his right hand. When he finally finished and cleaned up the “toothpasty” mess that was the sink, he decided to take a shower, **not because his entire shirt was coated in toothpaste, _no not at all_** _._  


* * *

  
  
"Not only will this help provide Master Thomas with better dreams, but he will be able to remember them better-"  
  
Cheers and applause filled the room and the emotion in front beamed at his well-received idea.  
  
The Prince didn't exactly like the idea, it wasn't bad in itself, not at all but good intentions do pave the road to hell, _the idea was a double edged sword.  
_  
"Well said Steward Ericsson", commended Geoffrey, Roman's "royal babysitter" as he so nicknamed the elder, appeared from somewhere and looked around as he pat Ericsson on the shoulder, "has there a disagreement with the young Steward? Speak now or-"  
  
"There is"  
  
Gasps, murmurs and mutters rang throughout the room.  
  
**Roman had raised his hand.  
  
**

* * *

  
  
His eyes were closing on him and he knew it. But try as he might to fight it off, the medication was proving quite strong.  
  
Having gotten out of the shower earlier, Thomas opted to watch whatever was on, this happened to be the Teen Titans go to Tokyo, call him childish but he loved the _original_ Titans.  
  
Currently it was 11am and the "movie" was rolling credits, his eyes were also rolling back.  
Stubbornly he fought to keep awake, leaving him little less than nodding off. The way he was positioned also didn't help, one elbow on the arm handle while that very hand was cradling his head, his body half slouching and almost completely relaxed into the seat.  
  
With him like this, every time his eyes would close, his head would bob tiredly, each bob brought him closer and closer to falling asleep, despite how much he fought to stay awake.  
His eyes were almost completely shut when his phone rang. Jolting up instantly, he fumbled around in his pockets for the device.  
  
"Hello?", he mumbled groggily.  
  
**"\Hey Thomas!\"  
**  
He knew that voice anywhere, instantly his face brightened up.  
  
"Oh hey Leo, what's up?!"  
  
**"\Nothing much, just checking in on you, how you holding up?\"  
**  
"Other than the fight I had with my spoon this morning, pretty good. What's up with  you?"  
  
**"\I'm just chillin', but that spoon sounds tough-\"  
**  
"Ha, ha, very funny"  
  
**"\Was it a hard battle?\"** , joked the male on the phone.  
  
" _Yeah_...I gave up and kinda just slurped it down-"  
  
**"\Thomas!\"  
**  
"What?! It's really hard to work spoons and stuff with you non-dominant hand ok?!"  
  
**"\That's fair, how long till the bandages come off again?\"  
**  
"Next week, it's about half healed but I still can't really bend it much yet", Thomas flexed his left hand, winced a bit at the slight pain the motion caused him.  
  
**"\Ouch, did you take your-\"  
**  
"Yeah, I did"  
  
**"\What time?\"  
**  
"Um, around nine-"  
  
**"\Ooh that means someone's sleepy right now\"  
**  
"Nah, I'm ***yawn*** fine"  
  
**"\Sure you are\", chuckled Leo.  
**  
"Yeah, yeah, but really 'm fine, jus’ trying to keep a decent sleep schedule-", mumbled Thomas as he ran a hand down his face.  
  
**"\You? A Sleep schedule? Really? I don't think so~\"  
**  
"Hey! I have one...kinda"  
  
Leo laughed.  
  
"Besides, I gotta make myself some lunch-"  
  
**"\You mean Ramen?\"  
**  
"Yeah", the Manifestor smiled, his friend knew him so well.  
  
**"\Will you be ok with it?\"  
**  
"Wha-?"  
  
**"\You'd  have to stir it, and you fought with a spoon already-\"  
**  
"I'll handle it"  
  
**"\Ok...\"  
**  
Thomas frowned, Leo was using that tone, he only did that went he felt sad, **_or guilty._**  
  
"Leo, I'm fine"  
  
**"\I know, it's just... _I should have picked up the phone_ \"  
**  
"Leo I swear, I will go over there and punch you with friendship"

The other on the phone laughed.

  
  
"I'm doing fine Leo, ok? I promise if anything ever happens again I'll call you alright?"  
  
**"\I'll make sure that I answer this time\"  
**  
"That's it, you know what? You're coming over here so I can punch you with friendship, I'm not kidding"  
  
At hearing Leo's chuckles, the manifestor couldn't help but chuckle aswell.  


  
**"\I'm a bit busy this week, but I'm free Friday afternoon till next Monday-\"  
**  
"Alright, then we can hang all weekend!"  
  
**"\Sure-\"**  
  
"Then it's settled, weekend sleepover!"  
  
**"\Weekend sleepovers it is then, see you Friday. 2:00pm work for you?"  
**  
"Yep!"  
  
**"\Alright, I'll see you Friday, take care of yourself Thomas\"  
**  
"I will, see you Friday Leo"  
  


**_With that the conversation ended._**  


* * *

  
  
_"The Prince had raised his hand"  
_  
_"The Prince? Why?"  
_  
The mutters continued until Geoffrey silenced them.  
"M'lord, what say you against the Steward Ericsson?"  
  
The Steward for the most part looked calm however Roman could easily see the anger in his eyes. The Steward may have been young to Geoffrey but was likely a good twenty years older than he was, it would do him no good to offend.  
  
"I have nothing against Steward Ericsson, his idea is splendid", the murmurs picked up again, "if my host were to remember his dreams more vividly,  it would surely aid on the creative process-"  
  
"Yes, that was the point, _your highness_ , were you not listening _M'lord?_ ", mocked Ericsson. He didn't move, his regal stance still remained and his face was impassive as if to pass off the illusion of respect, but his eyes, **they held contempt.**   
  
The room burst into laughter, loud chuckles and quiet guffaws.  
  
Really he would have let it slide, he would have- _Ericsson smirked_.  
  
**Roman narrowed his eyes.  
  
** "As I was saying", the room quieted down instantly, half of them expected him to be mad, but of course he wouldn't lose his temper for something so _menial_. Instead he stood tall, the epitome of regal and **_Royal_**. He looked directly at Ericsson, the elder male could do nothing. He was **_the Prince_** talking to a mere Steward, Roman had all the authority to punish the other for his disrespect, but he wasn't cruel... _though a little ego bruising wouldn't hurt.  
  
_ "Your idea would indeed aid in the creative process, however, there **is** one major flaw, if dreams are made vivid, _then so are nightmares_. These mal-dreams would just as easily hinder and could quite possibly damage the psyche"  
  
Ericsson took a small step back, it was obvious that he didn't think of this.  
  
"As a Prince and Personality, my job is to protect my host and my Kingdom, if I allow this idea to come to fruition then **_you_** would be in charge of it. Though if I let this risk be taken, just to offer you a bit of power", he paused on purpose to pick at his fingernails before smirking at Ericsson, **_"then what kind of Prince would I be?"_  
**  
The room instantly became chaotic.  


_“The Prince is right!”_ Shouted someone.

  
_"Those nightmares will harm Master Thomas!"_ Shouted someone else.  
  
_"New idea!"_ Shouted another.  
  
_"I have one!"  
_  
_"I have one aswell!"  
_  
Roman sat back down smugly, Ericsson was still up front, now a stuttering mess, _ah karma.  
  
_ Geoffrey, once again managed to quiet down the room. "Has anyone a proper idea?"  
  
The mutters and murmurs continued.  
  
Though Roman felt smug, he knew very well that this would be a _long_ meeting.  


* * *

  
  
After talking to Leo, taking his pills and eating his successfully made Ramen, Thomas sat down to watch some YouTube, **_because why not?_**  
  
He had taken his pills at 12:00pm on the dot, just to make sure he wouldn’t have to take it tonight. He was afraid he'd be too tired to wake if something were to happen at night. Visions of Anxiety's collapse on Friday refused to leave his mind.  
  
Currently it was 1:37pm and he was in the midst of a Watch Mojo count down, "The Storyboard Disney Movies". The next vid was "Best Disney Easter Eggs" followed by “Most overrated Disney Characters” and "The Top 40 Disney Deaths", _he was definitely going to watch those._ At 2 o'clock he found himself nodding off again, but he tried his best to fight it, even going as far as to play back the parts of the video he missed.

 

It was 3:30 when he finished the first two videos, sighing, he got up to get some water, only to drop it when Prince suddenly appeared.  


* * *

  
  
"This meeting is adjourned for now and would be picked back up tomorrow..."  
Roman bailed the second he heard those words leave Geoffrey's bearded lips.  
  
He popped up to check on his host, only to accidentally surprise him and cause him to drop a glass of water. Quickly the Prince reached to grab it and did so with reflexes he was proud of.  
  
"Woah, nice save Prince!"  
  
"Thank you-"  
  
Thomas gently took the glass and began walking back to the couch, he followed. The manifestor sat down and he stayed standing, leaning on the back of the couch.  
  
"So what are you doing here? _Is everything ok? Is Anx_ -"  
  
Roman cut him off, honestly he didn't want to see Anxiety just yet, his dream still shook him a little.  
  
"Anxiety is with Morality right now, Logic's at school and I just came from a meeting at my Kingdom"  
  
"Really, cool, how was it?"  
  
"Long and boring, but what about you what are you doing?" Roman peered over the host's shoulder, he saw "Disney" and instantly hopped over the back to sit next to Thomas.  
  
The manifestor laughed.  
  
They watched several videos before they got to the "Top 40 Disney Deaths" vid, unfortunately for his pride, this was the one that broke the Prince.  
  
At 5:00pm Logic came in to see a red faced Thomas and the Royal on the stairs crying.  
  
The host explained the situation to the teacher, but he was far too cheery for his liking and then he had the gall to laugh.  
  
"Don't laugh at me Thomas, it's a very sad death, they just shot her mercilessly!"  
  
Logic facepalmed and sank down.

* * *

  
  
He left after the video, which was around dinner time.   
  
Morality had made a wonderful roast and spent the dinner telling him, _along with the kids of course_ , how their day went, how they were playing video games with Anxiety and how the dark personality drove them all off Rainbow road.  
  
Prince laughed at the tales and happily ate his food, the Parent had explained already that Logic ate and went to bed early. Deciding to do the same, he thanked the father for the food and headed towards his room. Once there he paused, the red door was inviting him in with the promise of his bed, but the black door of his opposite garnered more attention.  
  
With a small exhale, Roman strode over to the pitch door, after knocking twice and receiving no answer he opened it. Anxiety was flopped on his bed, lips parted and breathing slow. The little blue bird was perched gently on his bed head. It chirped at Prince.  
  
"Oh hello Blue, how was he?"  
  
“Blue” twittered and chirped out an explanation.  
  
"Tired was he? _Hmm_ , I wouldn't doubt it, especially considering he spent the day with five children and Morality-"  
  
Blue chirped at him sharply.  
  
"I'm joking friend, it's all in good fun"  
  
The bird rolled it's eyes and Roman chuckled.  
  
"Alright then, I leave him in your capable feathers, I'll be in my chambers if I'm needed"  
  
With a chirp and a mini salute given, Princey bid Blue and the sleeping Anxiety a goodnight and headed to bed.

* * *

  
  
It was around 3am when four similar screams reverberated throughout the mindscape.   
  
Roman jolted up with a shout, quickly rushing out his door only to meet Logic, the teacher was also in pjs, looking just as dishevelled with his glasses halfway on. The two shared a look and sprinted towards Anxiety's room.  
  
Neither were surprised to see Morality already there tending to the younger. Anxiety was shaking, but his rapid breaths were calming down some. The youngest personality had tears streaming down his red face, **_he didn't make a sound._**

**_  
_**  
While Morality slowly brought Anxiety into a comforting embrace, he and Logic made their way on either side of the younger.  
  
They stayed together until Anxiety's breathing calmed completely, they stayed when his eyes started drooping. All of them stayed together during that night, locked in that Sander sides hug and all four eventually drifted to sleep.  


* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay, back again. Speaking of back, mine is still killing me, just slightly less than a week ago, so let’s count small blessings! Anyway, this chapter was quite fun to write, Leo is bae, Thomas is precious and Roman is savage, like for real don't mess with the Prince XD.  
  
Our new renovations to the angst train include this nice padded walls and floors that are located right before the fainters area.  
  
Here are the sections of our train:  
The front includes the conductor (me), my apprentice, my theorist and Mori.  
  
Behind us we have our newbies (welcome!) Here you can sit until you find your preference in sections, remember you can move if you want to from any section.  
  
Behind them are the emotionally numb peeps, these are the few that well, title says it all huh?  
  
The newest addition is here, this is for Throwers, those who get angry enough to throw their phones, laptops and other electronics around in anger, as mention before the walls are padded to hopefully protect you and your electronic children.   
The windows here are small so to avoid the Jumpers jumping through (peeps please stop jumping out of my train, y'all given me a heart attack).   
  
For those Jumpers (you know who you are) trampolines are on the left.  
Behind them we have the fainters, hopefully the noise from the Throwers and Jumpers will get you to rise once more.  
  
And finally at the back we have our cryers, these lovelies provide their buckets of tears as donations, these are the peeps who power the train. (Thank you and here are more buckets)  
  
My theorist has comfort foods and Mori will be handing y'all some blankets and my apprentice is passing out the silver buckets.**

**  
**  
There is no comment of the week because most of them were kind words and prayers to my recovery, which I so greatly appreciated. (y’all made me tear up, thanks for the kind words and the yelling to go to bed lol)  
  
**So to make up for that I got a question for you, which section of the train are you on? Are you a: _Newbie, Numb, Thrower, Jumper, Fainter or Cryer?_ _  
_ _  
_**

**See y'all in the comments ;)**

 


	16. Dreams

Has finals on Monday, still writes fanfic on Sunday, life XD

 

* * *

 

**The four were curled up together.  
  
** Logan on the right, clutching onto Morality who held the curled up Anxiety, while Roman was on the left doing the same.  
  
**All four were asleep.  
**  
It wasn't a peaceful or deep sleep by any means, as a matter of fact every time Anxiety so much as twitched, the three of them would wake.  
  
They were scared, that much was obvious, but it's not like the fear was unwarranted, there was no way it was just a coincidence that _all four of them had a nightmare of the same thing, **at the same time**_ **.  
**  
Each had nightmares the night prior and to have more again brought about a feeling of dread.  
**What if... _what if it became real?  
  
_**  
The sleeping Anxiety shifted in the father's arms, three sets of brown eyes opened. Logic, Morality and Prince shared a look.  
  
**_Would they really lose their youngest?  
_**

 

* * *

  
  
Morality didn't know what time it was but he knew it hadn't been long, even though the embrace he was locked in with the others felt like _forever_.  
  
He wanted to ask the other two if they knew the time, or at the very least how long till sunrise. The Parental was well aware that day break wouldn't magically fix the problem, but he held onto the small hope that if Anxiety held on till morning, he'd hold on till the next day and then the _next_.  
  
He wanted to ask but Logan's head was buried on the side of his lower stomach, _the Teacher had drifted into a light doze_. He looked over the Anxiety on his chest to see Roman, _the Prince was fighting with his eye-lids.  
_  
The father sighed.

 

**_This going to be a long night_**.

* * *

  
  
Morality had just slipped into a light doze when Anxiety shifted again for the umpteenth time. The Parent moved slightly to adjust the younger, hoping to the heavens that the dark personality wasn't having a nightmare.  
  
Logic pressed closer, having been woken by the movement, he stretched his hand out, barely reaching the hem of Anxiety's hoodie. The Teacher gripped the black material, _his reassurance that the youngest was still there.  
_  
Prince, who had accidentally let go of his opposite when he was battling with his eyes, jolted slightly and quickly but gently, placed his hand upon the younger's.  
  
In response, Anxiety's face scrunched up and he shifted, moving out of Logic's grip with a huff and small whine. He shifted and shifted again, right out of Morality's arms and onto Princey's chest.  
  
The youngest personality then curled onto his opposite, settling contentedly atop the Royal's silken pj's. Instinctively one of Prince's hands wrapped around Anxiety's waist, while the other was placed in the darker's hair.  
  
Roman blinked and for a moment the atmosphere of the room lightened.  
Morality giggled, Logic quirked a brow, a small smile on his face.  
  
The Prince just shrugged in acceptance, carding his fingers through Anxiety's hair, "I was wondering when...", he chuckled, "I was beginning to feel replaced", the younger sighed, leaning into the touch.  
  
"I don't think I can replace you Princey-", stared Dad with a small smirk.  
  
"Of course not, I'm Royalty after all", mocked Roman, easily playing along.  
  
Logic rolled his eyes.  
"Yes, a Royal pain"  
  
"Hey!" Whisper shouted Prince.  
  
"Nice!"  
  
"Morality don't encourage him!"  
  
They all laughed lightly, a small break in the ever encompassing silence. Their fear was still there but it helped to smile.  
  
The trio looked fondly at their youngest, Anxiety remained asleep, only shifting once before re-settling and wrapping his arms around his opposite.  
  
"Who would have thought he was a cuddler, hmm?" Commented the father.  
  
"Well hugging and or cuddling is usually good for calming down anxiety so..."  
  
"Logan!" Chided the Parental, he was smiling.  
  
"What? I'm simply stating why he might enjoy it", so was the Teacher.  
  
"Honestly"  
  
"It's facts Morality"  
  
"I swear-"  
  
Prince happily watched the elder two "bicker" like an old married couple, honestly it was quite amusin-  
  
Suddenly Anxiety frowned, legs curling and hands clenching. He bent in on himself- well he tried, the position he was in meant that he was squeezing Roman's midsection.

 

**The Royal let out a gasp.**

 

_This was exactly what happened in his dream._

_  
_ Morality and Logic turned to him, worry evident in their eyes.  
  
"Prin-", started Logan.  
  
"It's fine, he just...he's got a bit of a vice grip on me, that's all"  
  
"Do you want me to move him?", questioned Dad.  
  
"No, no it's alright, I'll try to soothe him before..."  
  
Anxiety woke with a startled yelp.  
  
"...he wakes"  
  
The dark personality wasn't breathing correctly, his breaths coming out short and erratic. He gripped Prince tighter and buried his face on the other's chest.  
  
Logic sat up completely and Morality moved to help, _their moment of reprieve over before it began_.  
  
The Parent gently placed his hand on the youngest's back, easily rubbing soothing circles on the black fabric of the dark personality's hoodie.  
  
"Easy there kiddo, you're alright, breathe, nice and slow"  
  
Anxiety gasped out a breath, following the Father's instructions. He still didn't move from his position on Prince, far too terrified to do so.  
  
"I-i...m-my ha-nds, th- _they were gone_ "  
  
Roman cut him off, he couldn't listen to the younger's distress, he could only imagine how utterly afraid his opposite was. He gave Anxiety a reassuring squeeze  
  
" **I won't let you go** ", he said, Prince's voice was soft but his tone was strong and determined, " ** _I promise_** "  
  
The sincerity in his voice caused Anxiety to nod, and he squeezed the other in response, but lightly this time.  
  
The younger didn't bother questioning how he ended up from Morality's arms to Prince's, he simply held onto the Royal.  
  
_"Don't let go, please"_ , Anxiety only whispered but Roman's arms locked around him and the fanciful side whispered back, **_"I won't"._**

* * *

  
  
All remained silent, hearts beating rapid in apprehension.  
  
Logic latched onto Morality, while Anxiety curled further, clutching desperately onto Prince.  
  
**It happened again.  
**  
Every few minutes, the youngest's body would glow, but it was so faint that if the others weren't paying attention, they wouldn't have noticed. Almost like a weakened firefly, _a small light dying out.  
_  
Dad bit at his lip, Anxiety wasn't leaving, _there had to be another explanation for the glowing, there had to_ \- he tensed when he felt Logan's grip.  
  
The Teacher was going to let go, having felt the Parent flinch, but before he could, Morality pulled him closer in a sort of "half embrace", biting his lip he leant against his elder.

_They both sought comfort from each other, silently waiting for the inevitable_.

  
  
**The younger's body pulsed again, rippling almost as if it were glitching out... _or fading from existence_**.  
  
  
Anxiety was no doubt terrified, the fear rolling off him was practically palpable.  
He held on to Prince as another pulse passed through him, shuddering at the feeling, _a tugging sensation_ , it was familiar, yet **cold**.  
  
The Royal had him in a lock, arms curled protectively around his back, for every pulse, his opposite would give him a reassuring squeeze, it gave him a small hope, _Princey wasn't going to let go.  
_  
  
**Anxiety's body pulsed again.**  
  
  
Roman held on to the younger, he could physically feel the cold tugging sensation as shudders passed through the darker's form. He had wrapped his arms protectively around Anxiety, unlike his dream, _he wasn't going to let go.  
_

* * *

  
  
**It didn't take long for it to happen, really it didn't. If either of them had blinked, they would have missed it.**  
  
Morality and Logic held onto each other with baited breath, far too timid to hold onto the younger as they did before, afraid that he'd break into a million pieces and scatter away on a sudden breeze if they so much as touched him.  
  
So there they stayed, watching with heavy hearts and linked arms shaking. They jumped when they heard Anxiety gasp, his form tensing. **_There were three pulses in a row.  
_**  
The pulses then stopped, just as suddenly as they came, and after five minutes, the elder personalities allowed themselves relax a bit.  
  
Their sigh of relief escaped them too soon, the pulses started again, glowing bright. The air suddenly felt cold and suffocating.  
  
**One**.  
  
**Two**.  
  
**Thr** \- _he was gone._

 

 

**_ The strangled, heartbroken yelp that left Morality's mouth will haunt Logic forever. _ **

* * *

  
He was pretty sure he scared Logan, but the noise he made... _when he saw Anxiety gone_ , he felt like his heart just shattered.  
  
Sobbing, he gripped onto the Teacher, he knew very well that the other wasn't too fond of contact but right now his heart hurt too much to care.  
  
_He failed, he failed, he failed_ , **_their youngest was gone_**. He loved the boy like son, and he failed him. **_What kind of parent was he?_**  
  
Logic held him close, burying his head on his shoulder, he could feel the Secondary's tears, _this wasn't a dream, this was real,_ and it hurt far worse than **_any_** nightmare. He failed, not only Anxiety but Thom- **Thomas**! _What was going to happen to the manifestor now?_  
  
"L-Logan, w-what about Thomas?", he whispered to the Teacher brokenly.  
  
Dad felt Logic raise his head, but he didn't expect to hear what the he said next.  
  
"Prince..."  
  
_Oh no,_ he hadn't heard a sound from the Royal, Anxiety was in **_his_** arms, he was going to blame himself.  
  
The Father sat up, fully expecting to see a distressed Prince, instead, **he saw nothing.  
**  
**_It had taken them an entire minute to realize that Prince was gone too.  
_**

* * *

  
Anxiety felt it, he felt that tug, it had increased for some reason, _tug, tug, tug_ , until it was borderline painful, the worse part wasn't the pain but the utter **_cold_** that spread through his body, he could do nothing more than gasp at the sudden drop in temperature.  
  
Prince held onto him and he focused on the feeling of the Royal's warm arms around him, he had nothing else to focus on, for once his own impending demise didn't seem so appropriate to fixate upon. The cold spread... _and then it stopped_.  
  
For five minutes it stopped and it was quiet, enough so that he could hear his heart beating, the rapid pace- wait, no, it wasn't his, _it was Roman's_.   
  
He only had the chance to look up at the Royal once before his head dropped back down and he clenched onto the other. The sudden and rapid succession of tugs left him breathless, numb and unfeeling.  
**  
The cold engulfed him and his vision went dark.**

* * *

  
  
He opened his eyes with a gasp, darkness surrounded his every being. He would be lying if he didn't say he was scared. He had felt the pure cold and terror that claimed Anxiety and suddenly he was engulfed in the same icy feel.  
  
When Princey opened his eyes, he realized three things. **First** , _he was alive,_ **second** , _he was in Thomas' room_ and **third** , _Anxiety was with him_. **_He was still holding the younger.  
_**  
He laughed when he realized what happened, a small, tired, broken but relived laugh. His eyes stung and his throat burned, but he laughed none the less.  
  
Sniffling, he wiped the tears that had undoubtedly formed.  
  
"Anxiety"  
"Anxiety"  
  
He shook the younger again.  
  
"Anx-"  
  
" _Nggh_ "  
  
"Hey, open your eyes, you're alright!"  
  
"Wha?"  
  
The younger was confused and by the looks of it, dizzy as well.  
  
Roman didn't care, he was just so happy his opposite was alive.  
  
"Here sit up, it should help", easily the Prince pulled Anxiety to a sitting position.  
  
The darker personality in turn groaned and leaned his dizzy head on the Royal's shoulder. Princey winced in sympathy and rubbed the younger's back.  
  
"Hey, you're ok, just breathe, you're alright"

* * *

  
  
He woke up to someone shaking his shoulders. _Apparently that was begging to become a usually occurrence.  
_  
The next thing he knew, Prince had pulled him into a sitting position and the room just **_tilted_**.  
  
"Hey, you're ok, just breathe, you're alright"  
  
He followed the instructions, not realizing when his breathing rate had picked up. When he finally caught his breath, he sat up, moving off the Royal's shoulder to find himself in Thomas' room?  
  
He blinked.  
  
His host was still asleep-Anxiety's eyes widened, he realized what happened, but he couldn’t believe it, so he turned to Prince.  
  
" _Did he just_ -"  
  
"He did-"  
  
"I swear I'm going to kill him for this-"  
  
"I don't think that's a good ide-"  
  
The dark personality didn't listen, instead he went to wake his host.  
  
"Thomas!"  
"Thomas wake up!"  
**"Thomas!"**

* * *

 

The manifestor woke with a start, bolting up into a sitting position, eyes wide and breath stuck at his throat. Thomas coughed and sputtered a few times, hot tears streaming down his cheeks as the visions of his dream flashed across his mind.  
  
"Thom-?"  
  
He looked up, Anxiety.  
  
Before he even realized what happened, he launched himself at the personality.  
  
"You're ok!"  
  
The dark trait tensed at boy latching onto his chest but soon caved and hugged his host back.  
  
"Yeah, no thanks to you"  
  
Thomas pulled away, confused.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You-", before Anxiety could finish, he was tackled by Morality. The Father had immediately pulled him into an embrace.

  
Logic appeared right next to them, but he said nothing, his glasses were wet and his face red. It was then that everyone else noticed that the Parent was crying.  
  
Thomas was even more confused. He had never seen Morality act like this, ever, not even when he bit his lip that Saturday, heck to see Logic crying was also a surprise but the Teacher wasn't the one sobbing.  
  
Biting his lip, the host tried to comfort Dad, he reached out to place his hand on his eldest Persona's shoulder, but he pulled back when he heard the distressed Parent's mumbles.  
  
**_"You're ok, I-I saw you disappear"  
_  
** Anxiety was mumbling back.  
  
_"It's alright, I'm still here"  
**  
**_ Morality sobbed louder.  
  
**_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"  
  
_** Now Thomas was really confused. And all the emotions Morality was making him feel, really didn't help the situation.  
  
The host reached out again, this time he was able to gently garner the Parental's attention.

* * *

  
  
He tensed when he felt the hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Morality?"  
  
He swallowed thickly, he was scaring the boy, Thomas probably had no idea what had happened.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
_Called it._  
  
Slowly he unwrapped his form from Anxiety's, the younger was even less fond of contact than Logic, and yet he had allowed the embrace, even providing comfort.  
  
When he let go of the younger, he apologized, the dark persona gave him a nod in understanding before crawling over to Prince and Logan.  
  
It seems that while he was crying, Roman had taken to comforting Logic, he had a gentle hand on the Teacher's back while he whispered something to him, the Secondary would then nod or whisper something back. It was obvious that the Royal had cheered the elder up.  
  
**_Honestly he was losing it, not only did he have two breakdowns but he almost lost Anxiety, he forgot about Prince, what on earth was going on with him?  
_**  
Sighing Morality sat up straight, wiping his eyes and cleaning his face on one fell swipe of his sleeve. With a cough to clear his throat, and ease the bit of awkwardness, he turned to Thomas.

* * *

  
  
"Remember when I told you that you were a very strong Manifestor?"  
  
"Yeah? You basically said that I underestimated my strength-"  
  
"Exactly, now the thing is, while we knew you were strong, but _we_ underestimated how strong you really were"  
  
Thomas raised his brow.  
  
"Ok? But what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
Surprisingly, Logic answered this time.  
  
"You were able to summon Anxiety in your sleep, _you sleep summoned him_ "  
  
"What? But I thought I couldn't do that?"  
  
"We all assumed that you weren't able to either, hence the reason we all suspected the worse when it came to Anxiety"  
  
"I still don’t-"  
  
"It's quite interesting really-"  
  
Anxiety himself cut the Teacher off.  
  
"What were you doing before _we_ all popped up?"  
  
"Uh, I was sleeping?"  
  
" _And_ "  
  
"And I was having a nightmare?" The host winced, but Anxiety continued.  
  
"It... it was about me, wasn't it?"  
  
Thomas nodded.  
  
The dark personality ran a shaky hand through his hair.  
  
"Well that's how you summoned me-"  
  
"Wha-? But how?"  
  
"You dreamt I was fading, meaning your thoughts were focusing on me, that's kinda how summoning works and it's not like you didn't do it before"  
  
"Oh right", the manifestor looked uncomfortably guilty, having remembered  the time that he accidentally summoned a sick and dizzy Anxiety onto the stairway. "Sorry"  
  
"It's fine, just, don't do that again, it hurt like hell"  
  
Thomas' eyes widened.  
  
"Really?"

 

"Well yeah, none of us thought you were able to sleep summon and we all had ni-", the dark trait paused, eyes widening in realization. He turned to share a look with the others.  
  
Logic tsked, "It does explain a lot"  
  
"True", commented Prince.  
  
Anxiety deadpanned, Morality shrugged and Thomas just looked even more confused than when he first woke up.

* * *

  
  
" _Guys_ , would one of you please tell me what's going on?"  
  
Roman decided to answer.  
  
"Thomas how long have you been having nightmares?"  
  
"Um, since Friday?"  
  
"And which days were the worst?"  
  
"Y-yesterday and uh j-ust now", stuttered the manifestor, a bad feeling increasingly settled on his stomach.  
  
Prince gave him a sympathetic smile.  
  
"All of us were worried about Anxiety and you've been having really bad nightmares. Because of your nightmares and all our worries combined, we've **_all_** been having nightmares, **_Monday being our worst_** -"  
  
"Yeah, it's why we were so tense about Anxiety and when you sleep summoned him we...thought he faded", mumbled Morality morbidly.  
  
Thomas blinked, only just realizing the scare he gave his personalities. He held his arms out and practically initiated a group hug. Anxiety and Logic tensed but Princey and Morality didn't hesitate to hug the host, so the other two gave in rather quickly.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't- I didn't know a-and the nightmares were so vivid, It was extremely difficult to wake up"  
  
No one saw Prince frown at the word " **Vivid** ".  
  
"Aww Son, we know you didn't mean it"  
  
_"Still not your son"  
_  
They laughed together, a teary-eyed semi-relived sound, just enough to slow the rapid heart rates.

* * *

  
  
When they finally pulled away with red faces and watery eyes Thomas had suggested they watch a light-hearted movie, given that he knew none of them were going to fall asleep any time soon.  
  
Somehow Anxiety ended up in the middle of the bed, Thomas next to him with the laptop on his stomach. Prince was holding onto Anxiety, Morality was holding onto Prince and Logic was half on Morality.  
  
"You're seriously not going to let me go, are you?" Muttered Anxiety to Roman, though everyone could hear it.  
  
"Nope, not at all, sorry but you're just going to have to deal with it"  
  
"Fine, but it's only because I'm cold", grumbled the younger as he snuggled closer to the Royal, but everyone could see his slight blush of embarrassment.  
  
" _Sure Sunshine_ ~"  
  
They laughed and Thomas pressed the space bar, the movie began to play.

* * *

  
  
The credits were rolling and all of them were fighting their eye-lids, too tired to really stay awake and yet too paranoid to fall completely a sleep. They knew very well that being out of the mindscape was draining, but comfort over practically seemed to be the case, they wanted to stay together, especially knowing that fading was very much still possible for Anxiety.  
  
Speaking of Anxiety, the youngest Sander Side's eyes were so low that it only took a few seconds to close. But they didn't stay closed for long.  
  
Anxiety flinched himself awake, the feeling of falling caused him to gasp and jolt in Prince's arms. In response the Royal pulled the younger closer.  
  
"Hey, easy, I told you I'm not letting you go"  
  
"Yeah, yeah Princey, I only let you because I'm cold", mumbled the darker trait.  
  
"Sure you are-"  
  
Anxiety cut him off by placing his hand on the Royal's cheek.  
  
Instantly Roman jumped, abruptly startling the others.  
  
"Your hands are freezing!"  
  
"I told you I was cold!"  
  
"Now I'm really not letting go of you", chuckled the Prince as he reaffirmed his strong but gentle grip on the younger.  
  
Of course the moment he did so a chirp resounded through the room.   
  
_"I'm gonna have to let you go",_ groaned Roman.  
  
"What?"  
  
Anxiety's question was then answered by the appearance of a little blue bird.

"Hello Blue, did Geoffrey send you?"  
  
The little creature nodded and twittered at the Royal.

“Blue? It’s name is Blue?”

“That it is, right little one?” Prince held out a finger for the bird to perch on it.

Anxiety swallowed thickly, “Hey uh- Blue, you’re not too mad at me right?”

“Everyone looked confused, especially Blue”

The bluebird twittered at him curiously.

“Yeah, Anxiety, what do you mean?” Questioned the Royal.

“Uh, it kinda freaked me out when it was trying to wake me up yesterday, I don’t know what I did, but I think I made it mad, so uh, sorry?”

Blue twittered at the Dark Personality, before flying up to him and nuzzling his cheek.

Roman chuckled, “seems like you’re forgiven-”

Blue turned and chirped at the royal sharply, the fanciful personality winced.

“Yes, I know, I’ll go-”, Blue vanished.  
  
"Prince? What's going on?" Asked Thomas.  
  
"Um have another meeting today and I think I'm late, what time is it by the way?"  
  
The host grabbed his phone from his nightstand.  
  
"6:03am"  
  
Prince groaned.  
  
"What time was the meeting?" Logic sat up to ask the Royal.  
  
"At six"

"Roman!" Chided Morality.  
  
"I know, but-"  
  
"It's fine Princey, go get ready for your meeting, the longer you stay here the longer your making other prissy Royals mad", commented Anxiety.  
  
"Hey, I am not prissy Mr."  
  
" _Sure you’re not_ ", smirked the dark personality.  
  
"I better go too, gotta make breakfast for the kids" Morality was about to get up as he said this, but Logic stopped him.  
  
"I'll do it"  
  
"What?"  
  
All heads turned to the teacher.  
  
"I said, I'll make breakfast"  
  
"Those poor kids"  
  
"Prince!" Shouted Thomas.  
  
"I'm joking, I'm joking, Logic's actually a fairly decent cook"  
  
"No, I mean you're already six minutes late!"  
  
The manifestor stretched out his hand and gestured to the time on his phone.  
  
6:06am, Roman paled.  
  
"I-i'll be going now..."  
  
With that Prince "sank down" through the bed into his room.  
  
Now that Princey was gone the other three returned their attention to the Teacher.  
  
"So why are you making breakfast again?" Queried Anxiety.  
  
"Because I have to go to school at 7:00 so I might aswell be up and unlike Roman I'd rather not be late"  
  
"Why seven and not eight, Teach?" Morality was intrigued, not that Logic couldn't be nice, just that it was quite odd to see the Teacher up this early.  
  
"I subbing Homeroom for a colleague of mine, they emailed me with the request last night"  
  
"I thought you went to bed early"  
  
Logic winced, Morality "Dad tone" was picking up.  
  
"I did, but I remembered that I had forgotten to check a couple English papers, my email and start my lesson plan for the classes I would teach today-"  
  
"So you stayed up late?"  
  
" _A tad bit?_ "  
  
" **Logan**..."  
  
Logic blushed, slightly sheepish at being "scolded" by the Parent, it was made worse because Anxiety and Thomas were snickering in the background.  
  
"I know, I know, it's just", the Teacher sighed, placing a hand on the bridge of his nose. "I'll go make the kids some French Toast, alright?"  
  
Morality’s tone softened.  
  
"Just make sure that after school, you actually go to bed early, ok?"  
  
Logan smiled, before sinking down.  
**  
** " ***cough*** _lovebirds_ ***cough*** "  
  
Thomas elbowed Anxiety lightly, the dark personality smirked.  
  
Morality rolled his eyes.  
  
"Alright you two, up for another movie?"  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"Sure"

* * *

  
  
"Roman had quickly taken a shower and was currently dressing at max speed, it's a good thing he steamed pressed all his clothes a week ahead of time.  
  
Now dressed the Prince scrambled to pick up papers from on his bed and off his floor, once gathered he quickly made a pass at his full length mirror.  
  
Combing his hair with his finger, he had no time to give it a proper combing, he then dashed off...only to back track and stare at the mirror again. **_There were dark circles under his eyes.  
  
_** They were not as bad as Anxiety's but still, they'd be very prominent on his face, he didn't really sleep much for two days and yesterday was the kicker, simply because he wasn't even sure that whatever he did even counted as sleeping.  
  
Oh well, he was late as is already, according to his phone, a whole fifteen minutes late to be exact, definitely no time to apply some foundation to cover his bags. With a sigh that his "flawless appearance" was now marred, the Prince snapped his fingers and appeared in front of the Conference room door.  
  
Placing a hand to his head Roman leaned on a nearby pillar for a second, _he always hated teleporting in the Castle, it always left him feeling dizzy and light headed.  
_  
He checked his phone again, 6:16am, he was late and getting later, swallowing,  he straightened himself out, ignoring how the room was spinning around him, chin up and head high, he walked into the room looking no less proud and confident than he was yesterday.  
  
**_Thank the heavens that Thomas was such a good actor.  
_**

* * *

  
  
Logic had sank down into his room, the Teacher wasted no time in getting ready, quickly showering, dressing and gathering up his computer bag and portfolio.  
  
He placed both school items on the bed and then teleported to the kitchen. The children were already up and at the table.

 

"Good morning children"  
  
"Good morning!" They all chorused.  
  
  
"Where's Dad?" Asked Misleading Compliment. He watched mildly amused at the Teacher's movements.  
  
"He's with Thomas, Anxiety is with him too", replied Logic as he gathered the necessary pan and containers.  
  
"Is Anx feeling better?"  
  
Logic paused, it was "Steven" who had asked the question. Honestly he wasn't going to lie to the child, not that he could anyway.  
  
"He was teasing me before I left"  
  
The children seemed to accept the answer, it was a known fact, that if Anxiety didn't insult or tease you at least once for the day, then something was wrong.  
  
  
"Alright, so what's for breakfast?"  
  
"Pranks!" Hissed Morality's Daughter.  
  
"What? We were all thinking it!"  
  
Logic rolled his eyes, the children could be quite the amusing bunch.  
  
"French Toast and some scrambled eggs"  
  
"Cool"  
  
  
By the time they had all eaten and cleaned up, it was time for the Teacher to leave. Waving to the children, Logan teleported to his room, snapped his fingers, picked up his two items from off the bed, and stepped into the parking lot of the school.  
  
Putting down his bag and with another snap of his fingers, he closed the door, watching as it disappeared. He quickly checked his phone, 6:57am, still early, with that he put away the device, picked up the bag and headed to the class he was subbing for the hour.

* * *

  
  
" _Sixteen minutes late M'lord, did ya over sleep lad_?"  
  
The room that had gone silent when he stepped in, burst into small chuckles and giggles at the comment.  
  
"I wish", mumbled Prince to himself, he had no idea who said that so he addressed the room as a whole. "No I did not over sleep, I was attending to a situation", he then focused on the person in front, he had interrupted them with his entrance.  
  
He easily smiled when he realized who it was. "It still is no excuse and I apologize Princess Valerie for the interruption and to all of you for my tardiness", he placed one arm to his chest and the other curled at his back as gave a small bow.  
  
Princess Valerie smiled and curtsied in response. "Well met Prince Roman, your tardiness is understood and your intrusion is forgiven", she paused for only a second, smile wide, "it **_is_** your Castel after all your highness"  
  
Roman chuckled before taking his seat. Princess Valerie continued her say upfront and though Prince wanted to pay attention to his friend and fellow royal, the view of outside is what garnered his attention the most.  
  
**_Large rain clouds were rolling in, the kingdom was getting dark.  
_**

* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay so how we doing? Who else has finals this week? Back pain and finals? Yeah, wish me luck  
  
Well, Anxiety hasn't died... ~~Yet ;)~~  
There's about two people sad about that, those same peeps happen to be on the train, but not in the train? Like peeps, get down and come inside, _plez_.**

**Anyway, the train went through a bit more renovations, we have another new section, welcome you Screamers. Right behind the Jumpers and directly in front of the Fainters, let's try to wake 'em up so they can get some comfort food, they need it, or will need it ;)  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK :  
BY PatchRandom  
  
**

**"I like to wander throughout the sections of the train, starting with numbness, then I donate a couple tears, afterwards I start to throw things (I think you may have to reinforce that padded wall after I threw my Chromebook with force at it...) then I start Jumping, heading over to the trampoline section now, and finally, all that emotion and exertion makes me faint in the corner!  
So I get the best of all worlds :D Lucky me... :( " **

**Lol.**

**  
See y'all in the comments ;)**

 

 

 

 

 

 


	17. Trial Tuesdays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still Technically Sunday

* * *

 

"-xiety"  
"Anxiety"  
"Anxiety!"  
  
_"Hmm?"_

* * *

  
  
Morality smiled fondly at the younger, Thomas, who was off at the side, chuckled.  
  
They had ended up watching two movies, Peter pan and Return to Neverland. It was currently 9:03am and Anxiety had curled himself up comfortably in between the Parent and the Manifestor.  
  
Dad yawned and stood up, deciding it was high time to go back inside the mindscape. Anxiety already had his eyes closed and Thomas looked ready to pass out.  
  
The host, tiredly but carefully, put away his laptop while the Father tried to rouse the younger personality.  
  
"Anxiety"   
"Anxiety"  
"Anxiety!"  
  
_"Hmm?"  
_  
Morality had to smile, Anxiety was so tired that he couldn’t even lift his eye-lids, only the mere ends of them moved, lashes fluttering slightly. He had turned his head to face the Parent but that was it. _His breathing had evened out instantly.  
_  
The eldest Personality had yet to cease smiling, he couldn't help it, sometimes the darker personality could just be soon darn cute! Without really thinking about it, Dad scooped Anxiety into his arms. The younger didn't so much as stir.  
  
He turned to Thomas.  
  
"Alright Kiddo, I'm taking this big guy to bed"  
  
"Alright-wait, how are you gonna sink down with him? Doesn't he need to be awake to concentrate or something?"  
  
"Usually, but because I'm carrying him, I'm just using my energy, of course the physical plane still takes a bit of his energy but not nearly as much as it should"  
  
"Really, why?"  
  
Morality shrugged.  
  
"Just perks of being a Primary personality I guess, I have the most energy"  
  
"Then you could have sinked down with him-"  
  
"I could have, but I didn't know how bad his state was, I didn't know if it would have made him better or worse, so I waited till he could have sinked down on his own"  
  
"Oh, ok that makes sense ***yawn*** I'mma go", he made and odd gesture with his hands before giving up and pointing at the door. " ***Yawn*** _breakfast_ ", mumbled the host sleepily.  
  
Dad chuckled, "You do that sport, just make sure to get your rest afterwards, ok?"  
  
" ***yawn*** _uh-huh_ "  
  
The manifestor waved a 'bye', before trudging tiredly to the kitchen.  
  
Once there, Thomas made himself a bowl of cereal, simply because he was too tired to do anything else. He finished his breakfast, took his pills and fell back onto his bed, happily succumbing to sleep.  


* * *

  
  
Morality popped into Anxiety's room and carefully set the younger onto his bed and tucked him in. As if knowing where he was, Anxiety curled up under his black and gray checkered comforter.  
  
The father gushed at the cute sight, fondly ruffling the sleeping one's hair. The younger snuggled deeper into the comforter in response.   
  
As adorable as it was, it still brought a feeling of dread to the father, _he hadn't forgotten what happened early this morning.  
_  
His smile dropped, he'd never forget that feeling, he wouldn't dare wish it on his worst enemies, **_pure_ _heartbreak_**. It hurt so bad, but he wasn't going to let it happen, he was determined to make sure that the younger wouldn't fade, he had no idea how, but he was determined. With that he left Anxiety to sleep, and as much as he wanted to do the same, he had five other children to check up on.  
  
Yawning, he walked towards the commons, not having enough energy to teleport. Limited sleep and sinking down with Anxiety really took a chunk out of his reserves, but it was nothing a little nap couldn't fix- he rubbed his eyes when he passed his room door, legs automatically carrying him to it, a nap sounded like heaven right now. He reached his doorknob only to shake his head and turn around- _he had to check on his other kids first.  
_  
The father managed to stifle a yawn just before he reached the end of the hall, only problem was it left his eyes watery and his vision blurry.   
  
Ignoring the minor discomfort, he walked into the commons in search of the kids. All of them were watching TV when he stepped in.  
  
His Son was the first to spot him, then his Daughter, in mere seconds of his entrance all of them noticed him.  


"Hi Dad!"

 "Heya kiddos!"  
  
"How's Thomas?", asked one  
  
"He's eating breakfast-"  
  
"And Anx-", asked the other  
  
"He's asleep-"  
  
"What about-", he cut this question off, simply because he had yet to tell who this one was and which two had asked the previous questions. _Gosh he was tired.  
_  
"Princey's in a meeting, Logic's Teaching, and I'm a bit tired. So far everything's good, any other questions?"  
  
"Nope!" They laughed together.   
  
Morality rolled his eyes, honestly, how precious could they get? He stifled another yawn and began rubbing his eyes because they started to burn. **He stifled a third yawn before asking a question.  
  
** "So what are ya watching?"  
  
"How to train your Dragon", said Misleading Compliment as he turned back to the TV.  
  
**His eyes were burning again.  
**_  
_ "Yeah and we'll watch the second movie after", finished Pranks.  
  
**_Screw it, he was tired, he gave up.  
_**  
"Ah, I see, ***yawn*** I'm gonna go take a- ***yawn*** a nap, ok?" He was already rubbing his eyes. "Won't be long, but ***yawn*** call me if you need me"  
  
Various forms of "k'bye", "later" and "alright" reached his ears as he turned and headed for his room. The energy drainage already making him lightheaded and extremely sleepy.  
  
The movies would occupy the kids till lunch, that left him about 3 hours to rest, _just enough to get most of his energy back_. Once in his room, he removed his cardigan and checked his phone, 9:13am, he set an alarm for 12:00pm.  
  
He took of his glasses next, something he hadn't done all of yesterday, with his call-card attire off, Morality flopped onto his bed with a sigh.   
  
**In less than 10 seconds, he was out.  
**

* * *

  
  
Subbing the Homeroom was easy enough, all the students where present and Logan spent the hour mostly assembling and reassembling his lesson plan while the students chattered on mutedly in the background.  
  
Most of them were finishing last minute homework, but quite frankly he didn't care, as long as they didn't make much noise he wasn't going to have a problem.  
  
After the Homeroom, Logic made his way to his 8:00am class. Once the "good morning's" were exchanged and attendance was taken, Logan started the class. He hid his exhaustion well, no one noticed, **_yet._**  
  
"Alright class today I have a group assignment for you"

* * *

  
  
Princess Valerie had just stepped down from the front. She had briefly re-explained her say so that Roman could catch up on the fifteen minutes he had missed.  
  
She then continued with a small progress report of her Kingdom, the stocks, crops and the like. Ending with on a happy note of how pleased she was with the trading between Prince Leonidas' Kingdom and her own.   
  
Someone scoffed, both loudly and rudely, yet no one knew who it was.   
  
With Princess Valerie done, the Twins, Love and Lust stepped up.  
  
"Good Morning to you all"  
  
Princey bit his lip, the Twins started simultaneously, never a good thing. Heaving an internal sigh, he braced himself for what he knew would be _"quite the meeting".  
_

 

* * *

  
  
"Last class I had asked you to pair up and discuss the differences between the marks of personalities vs personalities and personalities vs their host"  
  
The class gave the Teacher affirmative responses.  
  
"Now, we have five partials out of the twenty of you in the class, so what I want you to do is to group up in fours, a partial in each group, the three Veiwers are going to describe the auras of each of the partial manifestations-"  
  
The students moved in an instant, grouping up with their friends so as to have a better advantage. Eliža and Philla were the only two left in the center of class.   
  
Everyone else had a group of four except Luíz and Valerie- the latter beckoned them over and with a shrug the girls moved over, making them the final group.  
  
Logan chuckled, his students were  _always_ interesting, a bit scary when they wanted to be- _he still hadn't forgotten that dream._ Kicking himself mentally, the Teacher continued with the instructions.  
  
"Alright, now the Partials will then describe the auras of the Viewers, this includes the color, shade, how bright or dim it is, when your finished you can elect one group member to present, any questions?"  
  
Philla raised her hand.

 

"Yes, Ms. Philla?"  
  
"Why are they looking at Viewer auras? I thought the topic was on Manifestors-"  
  
"Ah, excellent question, the reason is quite simple, we have covered the most basic parts of the Manifestor Topic but we have yet to brush upon that of the Veiwers. There are different levels and types of Veiwers and if you don't know the types of Veiwers, then you won't be able to identify the rank and strength of a Manifestor"  
  
"Cool!" Shouted a student at the back.  
  
"Indeed, but I will tell you class, knowing the strength and rank of a Manifestor is very crucial-"  
  
"How strong is your Manifestor, sir?" Shouted another student.  


**_Strong enough to sleep summon, that's for sure._ **

**_  
  
_** "That is a question, you'll soon be able to answer yourself Michaela, this little activity is a great transition into the topic"  
  
The class was obviously confused but they gave him the benefit of the doubt. The Teacher smirked, usually uncharacteristic for him, but this was one of his favourite topics.  
  
"Yes, it may sound odd and boring at first but trust me, things are about to become far more interesting, now let's begin"

* * *

  
  
"We wanted to discuss why Master Thomas hasn't been leaving his house much but we found out that Friend Leo has decided a weekend sleepover..."  
  
Roman blinked.  
  
He knew that sometimes main emotions like the Twins, Envy, Jealousy and basically any of the others that looked like one of Thomas' friends, was able to bring themselves to the commons and the forefront of the mind.  
  
Morality, being the Prominent personality, was usually in charge of making sure the emotions didn't cause too much damage to the common area or Thomas himself. The Father would often times work together with the emotions to get the host to feel the appropriate way.  
  
However, with the way Anxiety's health reclining, the poor elder had his hands full, heck he might not even know of the sleep over - the Prince's train of thought was instantly derailed by the shouting in the room.

**Ericsson and the Twins were arguing.  
**  
"All we were saying was that-"  
  
"Yes and it has absolutely nothing to do with this meeting"  
  
"We were-"  
  
"It should be only one if you on stage-"  
  
"It's easier together!"  
  
"Order!" Shouted Geoffrey.  
  
"Steward Ericsson, it is but the Twins turn to speak, they are upon the stage", he then turned to face Love and Lust, "Do continue young ones"  
  
"Thank you kindly", they said, Love giving a bow and Lust blowing a kiss. Of course when Geoffrey winked at the younger Twin before leaving, Lust turned bright red and the room filled with laughter.   
  
Roman rolled his eyes at the two, they always brought something interesting to a meeting, that's for sure.  
  
"As were saying, the sleepover weekend starts in three days and according to Depression", Lust pointed to her and _the Dodie lookalike waved shyly_.  
  
"Master Thomas has been feeling quite down", continued Love, "so in order to help him feel better, we wanted to ask if you would assist us in making the three days the best they could be for him-"  
  
"Yes, help us make these three days wonderful for him and Friend Leo, we need to have as much creative ideas as possible to make it interesting", finished Lust.  
  
Everyone in the room paused, starring at Lust.  
**  
Wait for it.  
**  
The younger Twin smirked, "and things could get _very interesting_ "  
  
**There it is.**  
  
**_It was never a proper meeting with the Twins if Lust didn't say something perverse.  
_**  
Roman rolled his eyes fondly, but they did have a point, if they helped get some creative ideas, Thomas and Leo would actually enjoy the weekend. It would be a nice change of pace from the host worrying about Anxiety and it would help Leo as the tall male had been feeling guilty for not having picked up the phone-   
  
  
"Have you a problem with Friend Leo?!"  
  
Once again the Prince blinked, **_he really had to be tired to continuously zone out_**.   
  
Currently on the stage was a furious Steward Ericsson and Love holding back a seething Lust.

"I have a problem with you bringing up pointless ventures for _this particular meeting_ when you could have brought your foolish situation at any other meeting!"  
  
"Well we would, but time is literally against-" protested Lust.  
  
"Then that's **_your problem_** now isn't it? _You pompous, promiscuous child!_ "  
  


**The proverbial record broke.  
  
**

**  
** "What did you just say to my Twin?!"  
  
Love practically lunged at Ericsson, only to be caught by Lust, the roles were reversed, _now Love was being held back by the younger Twin._  
  
Everyone was shocked, Lust was usually the one to get riled up but to see **_Love_** about to fight-  
  
"I dare you to say that to me-"  
  
"I would, but that wouldn't be the truth now would it? We all know of your younger's... _habits_ ", spat the Steward.  
  
"How dare-"  
  
"No, _how dare you_ , this is a meeting in conduct for Dreams and how **_my_** machine will help make them, not your little friendship speech", Ericsson pointed at the elder Twin, before pointing to Lust, "or your next roll in the hay"  
  
  
Lust released Love and went to stand beside the elder Twin. Both clearly hurt, but yet standing their ground.  
  
"Very well Steward Ericsson, have your say in this meeting, it's rather fruitless either way", started Love.  
  
"Now if you excuse us we'll be over here actually caring for Master Thomas' wellbeing, you know, **_because that is our job after all_** ", finished Lust with a sneer.  
  
Their remarks seemed to set off something in the Steward, he grew livid.  
  
"Why I ought to teach you brats a lesson!", but before he could swing, Geoffrey suddenly appeared, grabbing his hand.  
  
"Calm down, young Steward"  
  
"Unhand me, you old crone, **_how dare you touch me with your skin the color of filth!_** " Ericsson batted his hand away, violently.   
  


**The room was silent.  
**  
Everyone gaped at the audacity of the Steward. Roman was visibly startled into non-belief, eye twitching slightly.  
  
_Twitch.  
_  
Geoffrey let go of the younger and Ericsson huffed, brushing the invisible dirt of his blue and green tunic.  
  
_Twitch.  
_  
"I already burned my other tunic because of you yesterday and now I have to burn this one"  
  
_Twitch.  
_  
"I'll have you know, these things aren't cheap, unlike you I don't have ditsy coal colored maidens sewing my cloth-"  
  
_Twitch_ -  **Prince shot up from his seat with a growl.  
_  
"That's enough! Shut your mouth or you'll have a sword through it!"_**  
  
Numerous gasps filled the room, some emotions took a step back and a few Royals flinched.  
  
Roman was beyond furious, the tertiary personality's aura flared and drowned out everyone else's, _a true testament to his anger.  
_

* * *

  
  
"Each Veiwer, Personality and Manifestor has an aura, the strength of the aura depicts the type and rank, this common knowledge to you all I presume?" Asked Logan.  
  
Majority of the class gave him the affirmative, so he continued.  
  
"Good, now while we usually pay attention to auras for partial personalities, and symbols for the Manifestations, it is very important to know the rank of any and to do so, we'll start with the ranks of the Veiwers and things will get more complex from there. Now can anyone tell me, what depicts the rank of a Veiwer?"  
  
A student from the back raised his hand.  
  
"Color!"  
  
"Good Jordan, anyone else"  
  
Another hand went up.  
  
"The shade or brightness of their aura"  
  
"Yes, well done Emily, one more-"  
  
A final hand raised.  
  
"Yes, Eliža?"  
  
"What the Veiwer can see"  
  
"Excellent, as they had mentioned class, to find a Viewer's rank, you need to know  the color of their auras, how bright or dull said aura is and that will tell you what they can see as it's what they _can_ see that depicts their rank, now I want one person from each group to read the Partials' description of the Veiwers and next class I'll bring some props to help you visualize the rank system"  
  
Logic looked around the class, all seemed interested, but quite a few of them were nervous about presenting, he smiled gently at them.  
  
"Alright, which group first?"  
  
A shaky hand was raised.

 

"Ah, Michaela's group is up first, make sure you pay keen attention to the descriptions class, tomorrow, it will be your jobs to figure out the ranking, so I advise you write them down"  
  
Murmurs and grumbles filled the room, along with notebooks opening and the sound of pen scratching on paper.  
  
"Alright Michaela, you may begin"  
  
"Jerome has a light Brown colored aura, but it is slightly dull, Samantha has a Yellow aura, it is slightly dull as well, according to Jordan I have an Orange colored aura, and it's only slightly brighter than the other two"  
  
The class gave her a small round of applause.  
  
"Good job, Michaela and good job to you Jordan for identifying that, next group please", the Teacher was pleased, his instructions were being followed quite well.  
  
A hand raised, Logan gave a nod.  
  
  
"Alright, Jamal's group, is up"

* * *

  
"Y-you wouldn't really do such a thing, now would you, your highness?" Smirked Ericsson. Bravado only betrayed by the single stutter.  
  
**Princey glared at him, if looks could kill, Ericsson would be dead a thousand times over.  
  
** "After all, I haven't physically harmed anyone, _yet_ ", the Steward glared at the Twins, before turning back to the Prince with a smirk, "besides you wouldn't have someone trailed simply because of words, unless of course, your reputation as a kind Prince deceives us all"  
  
Roman rolled eyes.  
  
"You're right, I am not petty enough to have someone trailed for mere words, not even if they are against innocent emotions or my Vasal"  
  
Ericsson gaped, " _Vasal_?" He turned to Geoffrey, the Oldman smirked and snapped his fingers and instantly his appearance changed into that of a young, handsome black man.  
  
"Haven't you heard, young Ericsson? _Appearances can be deceiving_ "  
  
The Steward's pale face flushed with anger and embarrassment, he grit his teeth before turning back to Prince.  
  
"I see why you would have him as a Vasal-", mumbled the Steward begrudgingly.   
  
"He was also head of the royal guard", stated Roman matter of factly.  
  
"Even so, that's still not enough to put me on trial", Ericsson still maintained his arrogant behaviour-  
  
**For the umpteenth time today Princey blinked, _he finally realized what emotion the Steward represented_** _._  
  
"No Ericsson, that isn't enough to get you a trial, but this is", Roman lifted the papers he had brought with him, "you see, as the Prince of this Kingdom, I get reports regarding to the meetings before hand, I know what each of you will bring to the table, so to speak, you Ericsson had an idea and built a machine in the frontal cortex to generate vivid dreams, the report says you tested it out-"  
  
"All inventions need to be tested out-", protested the Steward, who was starting to look quite nervous.  
  
"Yes but the report never stated for how long you tested it and yesterday, didn't I tell you not to go through with it because of the risk of causing my host nightmares?-"  
  
"Yes, your highness but-"  
  
"You didn't listen, you disobeyed a direct order from a superior, not only that, but your infernal machine has been on since Friday and possibly earlier-"  
  
Ericsson's eyes widened, seemingly finding a small missay in the Prince's words.   
  
"With all due respect your highness, _you have never seen_ the machine, so how would you possibly know? You're spouting false claims Prince Roman", the Steward smirked.

  
**The crowd grew tense at the accusation.**

  
"Nothing I say is false, how I know you ask? Simple, Thomas has been having vivid nightmares for the past four days, this morning you asked why I was late, I was aiding my host calm from his nightmare, it was so bad that all four of his personalities were there to aid him"  
  
_"You have no proof-"_

_  
_  
"Proof? Look outside the window, those dark clouds weren't caused by good dreams, as a matter of fact, with how much darker it's gotten, I wouldn't be surprised if Thomas was having a nightmare at this very moment"  
  
A loud boom of thunder accompanied the Prince's statement and the room broke out in horrified gasps, murmurs, and then the shouting began.

 

 

"You disobeyed orders Ericsson, and in doing so you caused harm to **_my host_** , that is something I will not condone"  
  
The Steward took a step back, Roman's aura had re-flared.  
  
"What Kingdom do you hale? If your answer is dishonest, you will be hung"  
  
"Th-third Kingdom sir"  
  
"Prince Leonidas' Kingdom, how ironic-"  
  
Ericsson, now truly in fear for his life, dropped to his knees and resorted to begging.   
  
"I wished to move to a different Kingdom-"  
  
"So that's why you built the machine, hoping to gain acceptance into my Kingdom _with a mere bribe_ , but why my Kingdom, why not choose Kingdom two? Princess Valerie would have gladly accepted your skill or even Kingdom four with Princess Gina-"  
  
"And have a wench rule me? I'd rather not-"  
  
Said Royal Ladies in the room shouted at the offense, the entire room then spiraled into more shouts and insults were thrown left and right at the Steward, _how dare he speak such things of the kind Princesses._   
  
Roman's glare hardened.  
  
"Your arrogance is what officially gained you a trail Ericsson, then again, _you are arrogance aren't you?_ "  
  
The Steward cowered on the stage floor.  
  
"I happen to be very close friends with Prince Leo and the two lovely Princesses that you just offended"  
  
Ericsson gulped.  
  
Before Roman could say anything more, the entire castle shook, the thunder that had settled into the background came again with vigor, this time bringing it's friends lightning and rain with it.   
  
**_'BANG!'_**  
  
Everyone jumped, as two Royal guards swung open the door.  
  
"M'lord, there's a dragon attacking the town!" Shouted one.  
  
"How many guards a fighting it?"  
  
"Ten your highness"  
  
Roman frowned, Thomas was definitely having a nightmare.  
  
"Tell them to hold on, I'll be there in a few moments", the guard nodded and ran out with the other to deliver the message, with that Prince willed his sword to hand and summoned Blue over. "Go wake Thomas", the blue bird chirped an affirmative and disappeared.  
  
"Y-your highness what about me-?!" quivered the Steward still on the floor.  
  
"Don't think I've forgotten you Ericsson, Geoffrey, do send word to my dear friend Prince Leo, have him know that there will be a trial-"  
  
"Have mercy your highness, Prince Leo certainly won't"  
  
Roman narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Then for your sake, _you better hope he does_ ", Princey turned to Geoffrey once more, “the trial will be held at 2:00pm tomorrow", the Vasal nodded.  
  
Roman turned to walk away, but once at the door he stopped and turning his head slightly, "oh, and Geoffrey?"  
  
"Yes M'lord?"  
  
"You're in charge of the trial and punishments, you may ask any two emotions to assist you"  
  
The Vasal smirked, so did Love and Lust, when the elder looked at them.  
  
"Thank you M'lord!" Called the three.  
  
The Prince's smirk remained, "you're welcome, now if you'll excuse me, _I have a beast to vanquish"  
  
_**Roman walked out the door. _Thunder and lightning echoing behind him as he left.  
_**

* * *

  
  
"Thank you Jeremey, and you aswell Mika", the male Veiwer sat down with a nod and the Asian Partial Mika, simply smiled.  
  
"Good job you two, now it's time for our last group, Valerie, your up-", Logan's sentence was cut off by the bell.  
  
"Alright class, that's it for today, tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off with the final group and then after the lesson, you'll all find out what rank you and your classmates are, dismissed"  
  
All students filed out, some shouting "goodbye's" to the Teacher or to other students.  
  
Logic smiled, easily transitioning to his next class.

* * *

  
  
Logan groaned a bit, lifting his head up from his desk.   
  
All his classes had went smoothly, currently it was his lunch break in his little "office". He had an hour before his 1:00pm class, so the Teacher decided to take a short nap, the alarm on his phone would alert him of the time ten minutes before his class.  
  
He was awoken by the sound of shuffling, opening bleary eyes, he didn't see anything at first-  
  
**_"He will fall"  
_**  
Logic jumped, Eliža suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a note.  
  
"What did you say Ms. Lori?"  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"_**

The way she said it and the way she was staring at him sent shivers down his spine.  
  
_Was she talking about Anxiety?_  
  
"W-what?"  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"_** , she repeated eerily.  
  
Logan blinked, and he found himself back with his head pillows on his arms, his phone alarm having startled him awake.  
  
He was going to call it a simple dream, but there on his desk was a simple white note, stating the Ms. Lori wouldn't be attending his next two classes.  
  
Logic quickly looked around, no one was in the room with him, swallowing thickly, he shook his head and went to class.  
  
True to the note, _Eliža was nowhere to be seen.  
  
_ With an apprehensive internal sigh, the Teacher began class.

* * *

  
  
Like the other classes today, things went smoothly, that is of course till 2:00pm.  
  
"To solve this equation, all you have to do is-", Logan cut himself off and quickly grabbed his phone.  
  
"Hello-"  
  
**"/Logic, Anxiety threw up-/"  
**  
"What?!"  
  
The whole class was dead quiet, the Teacher sheepishly apologized before steeping out of class.  
  
**"/His fever came back and it's just as high as it was on Friday\"  
**  
Logan unintentionally tuned Morality out, Eliža's warning ringing in his ear.  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"  
_**

* * *

 

**AN:// So I wanna try to give a recap of the chap: y'all got the explanation to the nightmares, Ericsson is gonna be on trial, Geoffrey's a cool old dude, Eliža is creepy, Anx is getting worse and Morality just found out, Logic gets a phone call and generally things aren't looking too good for the guys at all. That sum it up? Heh.  
  
UPDATE: Apologies for the time but I literally just came out of the hospital again, had to get some new pain meds, this one's a bit of a higher dosage, I'm sleepy as all hell rn.  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK:   
BY @Vanillarose55  
"DAMNIT! I WANT A REFUND ON MY DONATED TEARS! I EFFING HATE YOU. AAAAAAAAAA. DON'T. EVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN. IT FREAKIN HURTS. But also thanks cause you know, he's alive. BUT THAT WAS A SICK JOKE DAMNIT. Pardon my language. I don't hate you. Now would you excuse me, I have to go bury myself in a hole of both pain and relief."  
  
XD  
    
See y'all in the comments ;)   
  
~  
  
Ok, um, this is a personal lil bit, you don't have to read it if you don't want to.  
  
So I've noticed the lil number ranking thing the Wattpad does. At first I didn't mention it, you know? It wasn't a big deal, I was just so happy with your feedback.  
The number or rank or whatever it is called for Innerworks was #741.  
Which was cool, I was just so happy I got a number.  
  
But now...that number went up, like way up, it went from #741 to #745 and it's now at #921 and the feedback started dropping and this happened so quickly I started tripping; this was the number I woke up to that Sunday when I was heading to the hospital. Monday's update didn't really help, as a matter of fact none of the updates made after that Monday did well.   
  
Like with this, my back and finals, my anxiety is through the roof and this number staring blatantly at my face, I can't help but feel bad.  
  
_Is my writing getting worse?  
  
Have people finally given up on pitying my story?  
  
Did I make a mistake in writing this fic in the first place?  
  
Should I stop?_  
  
Idk man, it's rough, anyway apologies for bothering you with my stupidity, I'll-I'll see you guys in the comments.**


	18. 2:00pm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roman needs a hug

"Dad"  
  
**He stirred.  
  
** "Dad"  
  
**He groaned.**  
  
"Dad!"  
  
Morality's eyes snapped opened with a gasp.  
  
"Your phone is ringing", mumbled his daughter.  
  
He blinked about twice before his son placed his ringing phone into his hand.  
  
He looked at the blurry screen to find that it wasn't ringing, but an alarm. Quickly he dismissed it before realizing something.  
  
He physically jolted up, accidentally startling the kids, **_it was 1:30pm.  
  
_** "Sorry about that, I-I set an alarm for 12:00 I'm sure of it-"  
  
"You did", said his daughter, slightly sheepish.  
  
"Wha-?"  
  
"You set the alarm but you were so tired you slept through it, so-"  
  
"So we turned it off", finished her brother,  
"but then it started ringing again with a different sound so we thought someone was calling you"  
  
Morality sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, only just noticing that all five of the kids were in his room.  
  
"You all missed lunch because of me-"  
  
"We're fine-", started his daughter, attempting to ease his guilt. Misleading Compliment's stomach growled, loudly.  
  
The other boys laughed, Compliment turned red and the girl deadpanned.  
  
The Parent couldn't help but chuckle at group, honestly his **_children_** -  
  
"Is Anxiety up yet?"  
  
Before anyone could answer there was the sound of footsteps running down the hall, a door creaked open, shut and then the footsteps were coming back.  
  
Pranks suddenly appeared in the doorway with a "Nope!" The Trickster smiled popping the 'p', as he rocked back and forth on his heels.  
  
Everyone blinked having not seen the Prankster leave, but after a second they all burst into laughter.  
  
Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, Dad reached for his glasses on the nightstand, before fixing his bed, and messy hair, with a snap of his fingers.  
  
"Alright kiddos, how's about something quick, mac'n cheese sound good?"  
  
With the affirmative given, all exited the room, the kids raced to the kitchen, while Morality trudged along, a yawn slipping past his lips.  
  
He was a bit disappointed in himself that he over-slept but he honestly felt like he didn't sleep a wink, then again, three-and-a-half hours of sleep wasn't much compared to missing three days.  
  
With another yawn, he straightened himself up, put a smile on his face, strode into the kitchen and went to make the kids some lunch.

* * *

  
  
Prince really hated Dragons, he really hated them. **_Especially when they tended to spit fire-!  
_**  
He rolled away from the oncoming stream of flames just in the nick of time, by now his pristine white suit was dirty and slightly singed.  
  
They had managed to draw the creature away from the town and into the woods, hopefully saving innocent bystanders and limiting the collateral damage it would cause on the Kingdom.  
  
Roman looked up to glare at the beast, this one couldn't talk, so he was very wary of it. Many creatures in his, _or any of the Kingdoms_ , could speak, the ones that couldn't however, tended to be the vilest, sneakiest, maliciously devious entities, or they were kind, caring and downright mischievous beings.  
  
Blue was the perfect example for the latter, so much so, it was practically a little feathered imp. But truly, Blue was nothing more than a mischievous little bird with a big heart. It cared for whomever it wanted, whenever it wanted. Thing is, when Blue likes someone, it likes someone and then they "acquire" a little blue body guard, of course the blue bird wouldn't hesitate to play a trick on anyone, whether it liked them or not.   
  
However when it came to the former, darker side of the spectrum, Dragons, Witches and or Dragon witches would fit the bill. Being silent meant they were smart and when a creature of malice was smart, it was even more dangerous than usual.  
  
The mute Dragon he was fighting had about a ten foot wingspan. It's thick, scaly, bat-like wings were opening and lifting in anger. For each mighty roar it would let out, the Prince could see the veins of the creature pop out, highly visible under its reptilian skin, even at a good distance.  
  
Roman ran toward the beast slashing at its legs before ducking and rolling out of its reach.

Despite the moment, Princey huffed at Thomas' imagination. The giant fire-breathing reptile was literally Maleficent, _well copyright Maleficent at least_ , **its colors were inverted.  
  
** There was no mistaking that it was a copy of the original, animated Sleeping Beauty antagonist, despite its new color scheme. Whatever was purple was black and whatever was black was now purple and of course instead of green fire, the beast's flames were a searing red.  
  
The large Dragon roared, wild and mighty, strong enough to blow him and a few guards off their feet. With a small wince Roman got up, sword still in hand, he charged once more at the beast, slashing again at its leg before rolling out of the way.  
  
Copyright Maleficent apparently decided that it was tired of being abused, it flew straight up and out of view of the men on the field. The younger guards cheered, happily assuming that they scared the creature away, Princey frowned, _there was no way it would be that easy._  
  
"M'lord we scared the mal-beast away"  
  
"I don't think so-"  
  
True to the Prince's words, the beast came barrelling towards him, kamikaze style, a circle of flames in its wake.  
  
Deftly, Roman jumped, taking the opportunity to slash at the reptile's wings. Unfortunately, he had mistaken the thickness, his sword practically shook, slicing just enough, before bouncing off of it with a **_'CLANG'.  
_**  
The Dragon suddenly redirected its trajectory, U-turning to attack Prince and just managing to get a slice of him too. Roman couldn't help but groan as sharp metallic claws ripped through his white suit, tearing his sash in half and tearing skin.   
  
**Both the Prince and Dragon crashed bloodily onto the ground.  
**  
Roman grit his teeth, holding his right side as he tried to rise, the beast, just mere meters from him, howled in pain as attempted to do the same. Its right wing flailing as black blood streamed down a jagged tear. With another howl, it locked its soulless eyes onto the Royal, steam billowing from its nostrils. _It was out for blood._  
  
Roman only had seconds to lift himself off the ground to run and then roll to avoid getting turned into a pile of ashes. The flames were even hotter than they were before. _The ground that was torched almost resembled lava._  
  
The Dragon roared, again, loud enough to make him and some of the men a bit dizzy, shaking his head Princey ran at it preparing to strike only to be met with the beast's tail.  
  
Scales met metal, clanging with such force it sparked. Roman managed to block the appendage a few times, but eventually it managed to knock him and his sword in opposite directions.  
  
The weapon landed, sticking itself into the dirt hilt up, while the Prince was sent tumbling, barely missing a tree by an inch.  
  
The Royal sprang up, thoroughly using adrenaline to ignore the pain, he was bleeding, weaponless and the monstrosity wanted him dead, _there was no way he was staying in one spot._  
  
Taking a chance, he ran for his sword, weaving, ducking and dodging the blasts of fire headed his way. He reached his blade and pulled it out of the ground, just in time to roll away from a particular intense stream of flame.  
  
"Your highness!" Shouted one of the guards.  
  
"I'm fine!" He huffed as he rolled away from another stream of fire.  
  
**_He really hated Dragons.  
_**

* * *

  
  
By the time Morality finished making "lunch" for everyone, it was already 1:47pm.  
  
With the children happily digging into their cheesy meal, the Parent easily slipped from the kitchen to the hallway and then straight into Anxiety's room.   
  
The younger of course was still asleep, but it wasn't a peaceful one by any means. The dark personality's eyebrows furrowed and a scowl pulled at his face, but it wasn't till Anxiety's head tossed to the side and a small whine left his lips, that Morality took action.  
  
_"Anxiety!"  
"Anxiety!"  
_  
He kept shaking the younger's shoulders, a thing that has practically become an unnerving routine.  
  
**_"Anxiety!"  
  
_** The dark personality bolted upright, gasping and sputtering. He held his across his chest, hugging himself as he tried to breathe.

Biting his lip, the Father slid next to the younger. Slowly placing his arms around him bringing and him into a half embrace, while using his other hand to rub soothing circles on his back.  
  
"Easy sport, you're alright"  
  
Anxiety had yet to stop hyperventilating and he could feel the darker's pulse racing. Stepping into Dad mode, he helped the younger calm a bit with some breathing exercises.  
  
"Come on, slow deep breaths, you got it, nice and slow "   
  
Eventually, the darker personality regained control of his breathing, slowly uncurling from his previous position.  
  
"You ok?" He asked.  
  
Anxiety gave him a nod.  


* * *

  
  
He couldn't bring himself to lie to the Father.  
  
Everything hurt, stuff was spinning and he wanted nothing more than to pass out.  


"You ok?", asked the Parent.  
  
  
**He couldn't lie, so he gave a half truth.  
  
**  
He nodded, "yeah... just a bit dizzy"

  
Morality tried to bring him closer into a complete embrace, which was fine except when he did, the room span and Anxiety practically choked on his breath.  
  
He coughed one-two times before he slapped a hand to his mouth, stood up shakily and wobbled quickly to his bathroom. By now the whole room was a blurry mess of spinning colors but he had gotten so used to this, he found his way to bowl pretty easily.  
  
Heaving of course, was **_not_** easy, especially considering he hadn't eaten anything since the evening prior. Once again the feeling of thick acrid bile made its way up his throat, causing him to gag and heave even more.   
  
It left him even more disoriented than he was already. He was so off that he barely registered that Morality was rubbing his back, it took him another moment to realize that Dad was also on the phone.  
  
"-ogic, Anxiety threw up"  
  
**"/What?!/"**  
  
He could faintly here the Teacher from the other side.  
  
"His fever came back and it's just as high as it was on Friday"  
  
There was a slight pause in the conversation, that or Anxiety blanked out a little, he was sure he was conscious so that meant that his muddled mind just wasn't thinking.  
  
**"/-old shower would help/"  
  
**_Old shower? Old... cold! Yeah, a cold shower sounded good. **His skin suddenly felt like it was being singed by hot flames...  
**_  
He definitely blanked out again because the next thing he knew, Morality was helping him out of his hoodie, shirt and pants, leaving him just in his black boxers.  
  
The Dark personality attempted to get himself in the tub, but his legs were too wobbly and the coordination of his limbs just weren't responding properly. He slipped and almost fell, but Dad caught him and eased him gently onto the floor of the tub.  
  
"Listen Kiddo, I'll turn the water on alright? We'll start warm then it'll get colder ok?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
Anxiety knew the Father turned on the shower at room temperature, but it felt so hot against his skin, not burning but still hot.  
  
Not really thinking about it, he hissed at the water-  
  
"Don't worry, I'm lowering the temperature", the knob squeaked as Morality turned it. "This good?"  
  
The temp was just on cold but to him it felt warm, he wanted the water cold on his skin but this was better than the 'hot water'.  
  
"A bit"

* * *

  
  
After another ten minutes, Dad turned the knob and Anxiety very noticeably relaxed at the new temperature. The younger's shoulders slumped and his eyes closed contentedly.   
  
Morality chuckled.  
  
"Want me to leave it here for a bit, kiddo?"  
  
_"Mmhn"  
_  
"Alright", he placed a hand on Anxiety's forehead, not much change, he expected as much, but the younger was relaxing so he counted that as a plus. Carefully he picked up the clothes on the floor and then placed them in the dirty clothes basket.  
  
"I'm gonna go get you a towel and some clean clothes to change into, ok?"  
    
_"K"  
  
_ With that Morality slipped out of the bathroom to riffle through the drawers for Anxiety's clothes. He found them easy enough, hoodie, black shirt, black pants and black boxers, he couldn't find a single color-wait no he had some gray clothing.  
  
Rolling his eyes, the re-fixed back the drawers, grabbed a clean black towel from the gray rack that was beside the dresser and headed back into the bathroom.  
  
Anxiety was no longer relaxing as he was before.  
  
"Kiddo?-"

**"It got hot"** , he hissed.  
  
Frowning, the father placed his hand under the shower, it was still cold as ever.  
  
"Want me to turn the knob again?"  
  
"...please..."   
  
Biting his lip, Morality turned the knob till it stopped. The water that now poured was cold enough to fog his glasses and make him shiver but Anxiety relaxed once more.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"…much..."  
  
Placing a hand on the darker's forehead, he was surprised to find that the fever was in fact lowering. Hoping that the quick break was indeed something good, he stood up.  
  
"I'm gonna go change your bed sheets ok?"  
  
The younger looked up at him with wide eyes. **_"I didn't-"  
_**  
Dad chuckled, "No you didn't wet the bed", relief flushed through the younger's face, but his ears were a bit red with embarrassment. "Your clothes were a bit sweaty though, so why not changed the sheets, just in case hmm?"  
  
"O-ok"  
  
"Good, and meanwhile you can take an actual shower alright?"  
  
Anxiety gave him a nod and he helped the younger to his feet, before pulling the door so he could have his privacy while he showered. Dad didn't completely close it, for fear that if the dark personality fell he wouldn't hear him call out.  
  
Taking a breath to calm the unease in his chest, he went to change the sheets on Anxiety's bed.  


* * *

  
  
**Let it be known that Roman hated Dragons.  
  
** Let is also be known that Roman hated fighting this _particular_ dragon, especially because he had his guards with him.  
  
Not that they were incompetent, quite the opposite really, the ten men were exceptionally skilled. Between the seven archers and three swords men, the Dragon had quite a number of slashes and a multitude of arrows lodged in its scaly hide.  
  
Despite their skill, he still really detested fighting with them. Usually he was all up for team work, but never when it came to Dragons. Call him what you will but he preferred to kill the monstrosities himself, to him it was far easier, he didn't have to worry about dodging both arrows and flames. He didn't have dodge a sword and claws, when alone, as one person he could use the trees for cover and ambush it, but he couldn't do that with them. Their loud, heavy, silver, red and gold armor would stick out like a sore thumb. He still questioned how they were even able to see with their large helmets.  
  
He had nothing against the guards but he would have preferred to do this alone, that way a lot less people would be hurt- **_"look out!"_**  
  
Without a moment of hesitation, Roman shot himself forward and tackled a guard. The flames passed so close over them that it singed parts of their clothes.  
  
Still not wasting any time, Prince got up, and practically dragged the guard, he saved, to cover behind a large trunked tree.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I am unharmed, thanks to you M'lord- but your side!"  
  
Princey looked down to the gashes that the Dragon gave him, they had scabbed over briefly but now they were open and fully bleeding again.  
  
He brushed it off with a scoff.  
  
"I'm fine, I'm lucky it's nothing but a flesh wound, but if we don't kill that thing soon, I can guarantee that others won't be as lucky"  
  
The guard nodded in understanding, "I owe you my life"  
  
"No you don't, you're serving your Kingdom and that's good enough for me, what is your name?"  
  
"Charles your highness", said the guard as he unclasped his helmet and removed it so that the Prince could view his face.  
  
Roman had almost rolled his eyes at the unoriginal name that was "Charles" but when the young guard removed his helmet, Princey came face to face _with the face of Taylor shrum.  
  
**Only strong emotions gained the faces of friends**_.

 

He gave Charles a nod, "let's go kill that monstrosity shall we?"  
  
The guard nodded back, readying his bow and reaching for his arrows from his quiver, thoroughly surprised that he still had them, especially considering that he was in fact tackled by the Prince.  
  
"How many arrows do you have?"  
  
Charles blinked, but quickly checked.  
  
"Oh, um five left"  
  
Roman smirked at him.  
  
"Make them count"  
  
"I will your highness"  
  
**"Good"**

 

With that they charged at the beast.  
  
_Maybe fighting with the guards won't be so bad after all.  
  
_

* * *

  
  
Anxiety swore he was going to fade instantly from embarrassment when Morality said he was going to change his bed sheets.  
  
Dad chuckled at him, "No you didn't wet the bed"  
  
**_Thank every freaking deity.  
_**  
After the Parental personality helped him to his feet and left the room, he eased out of his soaked boxers and grabbed the soap. He scrubbed himself clean then grabbed the shampoo and washed his hair for good measure.  
  
Once done he carefully moved out of the tub. "Carefully" meaning he held onto the knob of the shower while he lifted one leg out of the tub before just dragging the other one out.  
  
Anxiety dried himself off with the towel that Dad placed on top of the toilet, he only dried his body preferring to leave his hair wet. He managed to put on his boxers and pants before the Father knocked on the door.  
  
"You doing ok in there kiddo?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm good-"  
  
"Forgive me if I don't exactly believe you there sport"  
  
"That's fair, you can come in, you know"  
  
Morality came in slowly, once inside he picked up the black towel that Anxiety placed on the sink and draped over the younger's head and began to dry his soaking locks.  
  
_"Nooo"_ , he whined, he wanted it wet, it was nice and cold.  
  
"Sorry, but you can't just leave your hair sopping, you'll get sick-"   
  
Anxiety tilted his head back and gave him a look, Dad paused and winced, "well, you'll get sicker"  
  
The darker personality huffed, "it's gonna happen eventually, so I might as well die happy-"  
  
**" _Anxiety_ "**, Morality's voice had taken on that tone.  
  
The tone just seemed to send him into a spiral but didn't care, he pushed himself away from Dad, flipping on his shirt and hoodie and an alarmingly impressive speed, before jutting out his index finger and pointing it at the Parent.  
  
"I'm serious, I don't have a cough, I don't have a cold, I'm not even sick, I'm _dying_ \- I'm-I'm **_fading_** and you know it"  
  
**"Anx-"  
**  
He cut Morality off, throwing his hands in the air as he subconsciously moved to his room.  
  
"No! None of us know what's wrong with me, one minute I'm feeling ok and then seconds later I'm hugging the toilet bowl!"  
  
"How many times have you thrown up?", there was nothing but concern in the father's voice, it derailed Anxiety's spiel instantly.   
  
"S-since you saw me Friday, I'd wake up at a weird time in the morning and whatever I ate that night just ends up coming right out"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"Because other than that I was fine-"  
  
**"Anx-"  
**  
"I-I threw up three times yesterday", he admitted quietly.  
  
"Is that why you left in the middle of the game?" Asked the father sounding even more concerned than before.  
  
"Y-yeah and then in the afternoon and then right after Logic came home. I don't know why, I just didn't want you or the others to know, especially the kids, I kinda wanted them to remember me in a happy moment", Anxiety had his head down, looking anywhere but Morality.  
  
"Oh, kiddo, come here"  
  
He didn't know when he moved, but he did know that his wobbly legs finally gave in again and he found himself pressed to Dad's chest. If anyone asked if he was crying he'd never admit it.  
  
"I know I joke about it a lot, but I don't wanna die"  
  
Morality held him close.  
  
"You're not going anywhere, I promise, we'll figure it out and you'll be ok again"  
  
**_"But what if I'm not?"  
  
_** The Parent stiffened.  
  
"Anxiety, look at me", he turned, watery eyes looking straight into the father's, "I promise we'll find a way to make you better"  
  
The younger personality closed his eyes for a second and a feeling that he couldn’t describe as anything else but the feeling of _utter Calm_ , spread through him and he found himself unintentionally relaxing in the Morality's hold.  
  
"ok", he breathed out, eyes opening and slowly closing again. Completely unaware of the fact that his body was glowing a faint blue-ish white.

* * *

 

 

Morality sighed, Anxiety was completely limp in his arms. He hated what he did to the younger, _he hated using his ability_ but the darker personality was starting to hyperventilate and him facing an attack really wouldn't help things.  
  
Closing his eyes, the Parental exhaled, the glow surrounding Anxiety flickered. Once more Dad exhaled and the glow disappeared, only to surround him now.  
  
**Morality opened his eyes, they were _glowing_.  
**

* * *

  
  
The rain had finally come, the thunder and lightning happily greeting it. The clouds were completely darkened and the skies looked like a gray sea but despite the torrential downpour, _the blasted Dragon simply refused to die.  
_  
**Hours in and he only had four men left** \- _there was a scream and Roman looked up in time to see a guard get flung into the air, only to land with a thud. He didn't get back up_ - **make that three men left.  
**  
Two guards, a scrawny stick like youth and the other, a rotund man, rushed in to grab their fallen comrade. They brought and piled him with the others behind some thick trunked trees so he wouldn't be torched by the reptile's flames.  
  
Princey was relieved to find that none of the "fallen men" had actually died, they were just unconscious, with varying broken bones. All in all, they were _very_ lucky.  
  
"M'lord, are you alright? Your side is bleeding even more now-"  
  
"I'm fine Charles, I'm nowhere near dying but this blasted creature needs to-"  
  
Copyright Maleficent roared, cutting the Royal off mid-sentence. Its right wing was almost falling off, courtesy of the initial tear and the creature's inane insistence on flailing the injured appendage.   
  
Of course Prince could see that there were quite a few good stabs and scrapes on the beast, his General had managed to cut one of its eyes out before he was flung.   
  
**The Dragon roared, shaking its body as it did so, scales and arrows shifted making an awful sound.**  
  
There were a number of arrows lodged into it, as a matter of fact, there were twice as much arrows in the beast's hide than there was before. Then again, Roman only had one archer out of seven left.  
  
"Charles, how many arrows do you have-?"  
  
"One M'lord"  
  
The Prince grit his teeth, they needed to figure something out, quick. He looked at anything he could use as his advantage but there wasn't much to see, most of the trees were destroyed, majority of his men were down and **_his side felt as if he had bathed in ice water.  
_**  
He had ignored the pain for as long as he could, but now it was so hot it felt  cold. The wound was still bleeding and the rain really wasn't helping.  
  
Princey had no idea how much blood he had lost but he figured that because he wasn't lightheaded yet he was fine enough for now.  
  
He glared once more at the howling beast, honestly he wanted nothing more than to stab- _his eyes widened in realization.  
_  
"Charles, I need you to shoot the Dragon in the center of it’s neck"  
  
"But your highness, none of our arrows pierce the beast's center-"  
  
"I didn't ask for the center of the beast, I asked you for the center if it's _neck_ "  
  
Charles couldn't argue with that, so he notched his final arrow.   
"Yes, M'lord"  
  
**He let it fly.  
  
**

* * *

  
  
"This is hopeless!" Shouted the young guard.  
  
"Both the general and our second in command are down", whined the other.  
  
"Where's the Prince?", asked Charles. Roman had disappeared after he shot the arrow.  
  
"He ran!" Shouted the young guard, _"he left us here!"  
_  
"Well he _is_ the Prince, out of all of us, he needs to survive", reasoned the other.  
  
"I get that but to think that he'd abandon ten of his men without a word-"  
**_  
"Enough!"  
_**  
Both guards froze and turned to the only archer left.  
  
"Don't think so little of our Prince, we came here to defend him and the Kingdom. I trained for this, _we all did_ , and if I die today so be it, I'm going to fight to the end!"  
  
"But you have no more arrows, what little can a bow do?" The youngest swordsman had asked this, at first Charles thought him arrogant, turns out the lad was scared.  
  
**The beast howled, pained yet deadly, all three guards flinched as the sound sent their ears ringing.**

**  
** "That thing refuses to die!" Shouted the older guard.  
  
The outburst shocked both Charles and the younger guard, the round male tended to be quite calm and reasonable. But then again, that was before they were the last ones left.  
  
Charles grit his teeth, he wasn't giving up, he had no idea where the Prince was and he had no clue if the Royal had actually ran but he didn't care, he was a guard and he was loyal to his Kingdom, he would die protecting it.  
  
"That thing refuses to die so we need to make sure that we do the same until we kill it!" With that the lone archer jumped from behind the safety of the tree trunks and into the fray.  
  
The two guards looked at each other, then at their comrades before gritting their teeth and charging out with a shout. _They were men of the royal guard and their own were injured so they were going to make the beast pay. **  
**_

* * *

  
  
Despite his distance, Roman could still very much hear his guards, he smiled slightly when he realized what emotion Charles represented, **_Loyalty.  
_**  
The beast howled and he almost let go, his ears were ringing so much he thought they would bleed, his grip had faltered slightly but he persevered. Even as the rain beat down heavily on his tired body, blurring his vision and plastering down his hair, he continued to climb.   
  
He was very impressed with Charles' skill, the archer had shot his arrow exactly where he wanted it. Once the arrow met its mark, he took off instantly, climbing up the creature's tail, even as the appendage flailed around.  
  
Currently he was on its mid back, sword in his left hand ready to strike once he got higher. After slipping a few times he got up just high enough, a few inches lower than were he wanted to be but he knew he wouldn't be able to climb any further. His arms shook far too much under the strain and he feared that if he climbed anymore they'd give in and he'd fall unable climb back up again.  
  
So with a breath, Roman jumped, right hand clasping onto the arrow that Charles shot, while his left stabbed at the beast. Using his weight, the Prince dragged the sword as far as it could go, straight down from its long neck to just right above its heart.  
  
The Dragon howled and roared with pain, spitting fire all around it and from this close Roman could practically feel and smell the sulfuric gas the creature emitted for its flames.  
  
It swung its neck and body, flailing around to remove the royal but to no avail, **Princey held on.  
  
**

* * *

  
  
Charles was the first to spot the Prince, thoroughly amazed at the Royal's tenacity and skill, the Dragon kept trying to shake him off and yet he held on.   
  
The archer knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer, so he instructed the other two to slash at the beast's feet while he attempted to distract it. The swordsmen surprisingly didn't hesitate to follow the order, they moved quickly, slicing and stabbing at the Dragons legs.   
  
With the men doing their part, Charles moved into action, he had spotted it, one lone arrow on the ground and it belonged to the second in command by the look of it.   
  
"Hey!" He shouted, waving his hands at the Dragon, "over here!"  
  
The Copyright Maleficent didn't hesitate to narrow its eyes and blast fire in his direction.  
  
Charles ran, ducking and rolling in time to dodge the flames, he landed right next to the arrow. Quickly he notched it, pulled the string back and released.  
  
The Dragon howled in pain, swinging it's body more frantically, _there was an arrow lodged in its eye._ Now completely blind it flailed around, spitting fire everywhere and missing everyone by a mile.  
  
The archer was pleased with his work-  
  
**_'CRK!'  
_**  
The sound echoed.  
  
**The arrow Prince was holding onto broke.  
**

* * *

  
  
The arrow broke, splintering in his hands as it gave way. His body now swung, utterly relying on the hold his left hand had on his sword.   
  
Princey's sword was very much stuck but with his full weight pulling down on it, the blade wouldn't be stuck for long.

 

Gritting his teeth, he decided to end this once and for all, with his right hand he reached into the pocket that was once hidden by his sash and pulled out the dagger.  
  
Bracing himself for the pain to come, Roman stabbed the beast, piercing the flesh, aiming right at the beating heart. The problem was, the dagger was well a _dagger_ , it was short so he had to push his hand in to fully stab through the organ.  
  
It burned so bad- _well it should have_ , it felt like his arm was **_freezing_** even though he could see the skin surrounding his arm was blistering. Still he pushed and pushed, _he pushed the dagger so far in that it cut through the other side of the creature's heart.  
_  
The Dragon howled one last time, flailing shaking its body, causing the Prince and his Sword to dislodge from it. The Royal landed in a roll, picking up his sword that thankfully didn't fall to far from him before jumping out of the way. **Copyright Maleficent came crashing down.  
  
** Charles and the other two cheered as the fallen beast began dissipating into black smoke, the rain all too soon pattered out, taking the smoke, thunder and lightning with it.  
  
The skies became clear and bright blue again, some of their comrades even woke up, truly it seemed like it was all too good to be true. The archer wanted to ask the Prince if this always happened after he fought a dragon- _his eyes widened, **the Prince.  
**_  
Charles found him easy enough though he was at a bit of a distance, an off white suit in a green forest was rather hard to miss after all. The archer slowly walked towards the Prince, the Royal had his back turned to him and was on his knees. His sword was on the ground beside him and he was clutching his right arm.   
  
The amount of blood that pooled under it startled Charles but with the way Roman was hunched over and cradling his arm, only one question came to his mind, **_did the Prince lose his hand?_**  
  
Swallowing thickly, he approached the Royal.  
  
"M'lord-"  
  
Prince turned around before he could finish his sentence.  
  
"You know Charles, you have splendid aim"  
  
"Uh-um, thank you your highness but-"  
  
"I'm injured, yes, yes, I'm aware", the Prince stood up, rolling his eyes as he gestured to his right arm and side, "honestly you remind me of-"  
  
**"PRINCE ROMAN!"**  
  
"Her", finished the Royal with a wince.   


* * *

  
  
Everyone turned to the blue cloak wearing woman who had shouted the Prince's name. She didn't even look at them, instead she marched straight to Charles and Roman.  
  
Princey had skilfully maneuvered his right side behind the archer, so as long as Charles didn't move, he'd be fine.  
  
"Fairy Godmother! So good to see you again!" Exclaimed the Royal, giving the fairy a partial bow. She, in return, gave him the most sarcastic curtsey anyone had ever seen. Roman winced again.  
  
"Good lad", said the fairy. Charles looked around before pointing at himself, "yes you dear boy, would you do an old fairy a favor?"  
  
"My lady?"  
  
"Oh such manners, it's a simple task really, kindly step to your right for me, would you lad?"  
  
Charles could practically feel the Prince tensing behind him. "Your highness?" He whispered.  
  
Roman sighed before whispering back, "go ahead, it would do no good for both of us to feel her wrath"  
  
Doing as told, the archer stepped aside only to feel an incredibly string gust of wind, he looked left and instantly the Prince was face to face with an angry fae.  
  
And in another rush of wind the fairy's anger was replaced by concern. She was poking and prodding at the Prince's injuries checking them over with the expertise of a doting parent.  
  
"Honestly your highness, one of these days you'll face a beast too great-"  
  
" _Mhm_ , but I haven't met one yet- _ack!_ " The fairy pinched his injured hand. "Why do you always do that?!" Roman quickly jerked his hand from out of her grip.  
  
"Because I care", smirked Fairy godmother.  
  
**Princey huffed, crossing his arms with a pout, only to end up wincing because of his injured side.  
**  
The fae rolled her eyes before fondly ruffling the Royal's hair, even though she knew he hated it. She chuckled when he batted her hand away.

"Alright, the Dragon is gone and it's time for you all to go home and sing songs of victory"  
  
The guards looked at her as if she were crazy, most their comrades were unconscious and the rest were injured, there was no way they could go home.  
  
Fairy godmother frowned before waving her wand.  
  
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"  
  
A rush of wind and sparkles surrounded the men, in a blink their injuries were healed and five more woke up, leaving three unconscious out of the ten.  
  
They looked at her expectantly, she sighed, "my magic can heal the body, not the mind, have one of your physicians take a look at them"  
  
None of the men moved, some hauled the unconscious ones onto their shoulders but no one wanted to leave their Prince with the fae.  
  
She rolled her eyes and Roman chuckled.  
  
"You heard her men. Charles, lead them, tell Geoffrey your report and tell him to ready his own"  
  
The archer blinked but followed the orders he was given.  
  
"You heard the Prince men, let's move forward!"  
  
And with that the ten royal guards left, but not before giving a suspicious glance at the fairy or a pitying one at the Prince's wounds that had yet to be healed.  


* * *

  
  
"Alright, they're gone, mind telling me why you're here?"  
  
"Ah-ah, where have your manners gone, your highness, _did they leave with your men?_ "  
  
Roman sighed.  
  
"Forgive me, I'm tired-"  
  
"I jest, my Prince but do sit down, you need not keep such regality with me"  
  
"I'm fine-"  
  
"Very well", sighed the fairy. She already knew how stubborn the young Prince was. Gently she held the injured hand and pressed her wand to his side. The Royal hissed as the wounds began to glow.  
  
"So how-", he started, hoping to distract himself from the pain, but the fairy beat him to it.  
  
"I was on my way to your Kingdom, some little birds told me there is to be a trial tomorrow"  
  
"There is, Steward Ericsson's"  
  
"From Prince Leonidas' Kingdom?"  
  
"The very same, Prince Leo will be attending as well"  
  
"Hmm, well it **_is_** a citizen of his Kingdom, it's only natural to have him attend and assign the punishments given"  
  
"Indeed but still, how did you find me?"  
  
"I saw the black smoke, I figured you've been out slaying Dragons again"  
  
Roman chuckled, soon closings his eyes and biting back a hiss as the pain became more intense.   
  
"...ince...an..."  
  
"Prince Roman!"  
  
He blinked, opening his eyes, his vision was beyond blurry and black dots were dancing across it.  
  
"Didn't I tell you to sit down?" Chided the fairy worriedly.  
  
He wanted to reassure her, tell her he was fine, but he was so tired...  
  
"Honestly, your stubbornness will be the death of you"  
  
He took from Anxiety's book and smirked tiredly in response, Fairy godmother rolled her eyes before lowering him to the ground.  


* * *

  
  
He could see her waving her wand but he ended up closing his eyes when a bright light emitted from it. When he reopened them, he found himself completely healed, he had his sash and his suit was as pristine as it was before his battle with the beast.  
  
"You're welcome, your highness", chuckled the fae, utterly amused at the befuddled look on the Prince's face.  
  
"Thank you very much but why-"  
  
"Because you would probably ask me to stitch it back up anyway, might as well fix it now than later, _hmm_?" winked Fairy Godmother.  
  
Roman chuckled.  
  
"I assume you want to attend the trial?"  
  
"That _is_ why I was heading to your Kingdom-"  
  
"It shall be done then, though I never understand your fascination with them"  
  
"Well it's not every day that someone is tried in the Kingdoms"  
  
"True, will you be staying the night?"  
  
"If you are so gracious to host, then I'd gladly stay"  
  
"Very well, you can stay over in a guest room until after the trial if you'd like"  
  
"Thank you kindly my Prince, now I suggest we get you home before you fall unconscious-"  
  
"I won't-"  
  
"You almost did-"  
  
" _Almost_ , I'm fine, though I'm far too lazy to walk", Princey smirked as he placed a hand on the fairy's shoulder, the snapped his finger with his free hand.  
  
Instantly they appeared beside Geoffrey and two young women in the conference room.

 

The ladies jumped, before realizing that their Prince simply teleported.  
  
One of the ladies happened to be a maid and Roman gently asked her to escort Fairy godmother to a guest room, leaving him Geoffrey, and the other woman alone in the room.  
  
"Alright Vera, what is the damage?"  
  
Vera was basically his accountant, she was kind hearted and had the face of Thomas' friend Cristina, _she represented **honesty**.  
_  
"Surprisingly your highness, not much"  
  
Roman blinked.  
  
"What? Surely you're joking-"  
  
"No M'lord, other than an abandoned house and a couple of fences, not much damage was caused by the foul beast, the guards had drawn it into the forest in time"  
  
"Huh, alright, what's the cost for repairs?"  
  
  
After Vera gave the price and four carpenters were hired. Geoffrey gave his report, relaying all that was to be done for the trail tomorrow.  
  
Once done, Prince dismissed the two and teleported himself to his chambers, he was **_exhausted_** and wanted nothing more than to pass out but he needed to shower and check on Thomas and Anxiety.   


* * *

  
  
After his shower Roman found himself drawn to his bed. He resisted of course but somehow or another he ended up sinking into his soft duvet.  
  
Groaning he tried to lift himself off the bed but his body wouldn't comply. His eyes were already closing and he could do nothing but stare at his red door, the one that lead to the mindscape and in turn his host and opposite.  
  
He fought valiantly against his eye-lids but in the end exhaustion won out and he slipped into a deep dreamless sleep.

* * *

  
**  
AN:// Part 2 of "Trial Tuesdays" everyone, it's gonna be a three parter, because Tuesdays are hella long. We got a more Prince centric piece today, we'll get our favorite Teacher's one next ;)  
  
Ok so recap: We know a bit about what happened to Anxiety, Morality has secret powers? Maybe the others have too? Either way, Prince fought a dragon like a badass and is currently KO'd and Teach is at school likely freaking out about the call. Hmm, I wonder what happens to Thomas?  
  
Yep, I such at recaps too lol, _life_.  
  
A long, late Monday update because I ended up in the hospital, but like I'm a hero you guys.  
  
_Ok so STORYTIME: Despite my craptastic week with finals and all, I finished up a good amount of this chapter, literally just Prince's end scene was left. My dad sent me to go buy him a thing, I don't even remember what it was but like I went out, now bear in mind the nearest shop here is about two to three blocks away from my house. The next one is about a mile, so if the small shop didn't have the thing then I'd have to walk the highway. Guess who walked the highway. Not really tripping about it, I needed the break so I walked along the side of the road listening to my music and something told me look left. There was this little kid, with a ball, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. The ball bounced on the road, there was an incoming pickup-truck. Yeah...  
I freaking dived, I jumped and I got the kid off the road in time, only thing is I kinda got hit? Like not too bad? The little side mirror thing managed to hit me and at the speed it was going it broke off on my mid back. Y'all know I have back pain for some reason and it just happens to stem from my mid/lower back, so yeah... anyway the kids fine, his name is Dillan, he's a cute kid and he's also deaf. The mother came rushing over not a few seconds later, thanking me and signing to Dillan asking if he was ok and stuff. We called my parents and they took me to the hospital because I couldn't really move, I now have a rectangular bruise on my back and guess what, more back pain, but the plus side is that Dillan's mom is a nurse, at the hospital, small world huh? She's cool and we were chatting at night since I was stuck there until just now. So yeah Mrs Liz is cool, I saved a kid and I'm home now in bed, I should be asleep but nah.  
_  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK :   
BY @Havarocks  
  
"HOW COULD YOU I LOVED THIS CHAPTER I THOUGHT WE WERE TAKING A STOP IN FLUFF TOWN BUT THE TRAIN JUST  SPED THROUGH AT TOP SPEED AND TO MAKE IT EVEN FREAKING BETTER I AM ALREADY CRYING FROM LISTENING TO I AM DAMAGED AND NOW I'MJUST BROKEN DOWN IN MY ROOM CONFUSED WITH HOW TO FEEL BECAUSE OH MY GOD ANXIETY"  
  
See y'all in the comments ;)   
  
~  
  
Ok, so I'd like to apologize for the last AN, it was apparently very rude and it made a few peeps unappreciated.  
  
I'm sorry for how I sounded, I know I should be grateful that you all read this and I quote "crappy, error filled disaster".  I should have appreciated that some people actually voted, commented and left kudos, so I'm sorry for being ungrateful.  
  
The messages like these are gone because I don't want to start a thing in the comments? That's supposed to be our safe place, it's the actual train you guys, I don't want anyone feeling down by seeing them.  
  
  
They were right though, so I'm sorry, I was just- I wanted to...  
Nevermind.  
Sorry.  
  
  
Thank you guys, those who sent kind words. You guys made it a little easier to breathe. **


	19. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pillow fort y'all ;)

**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"  
_**  
Logan's breath hitched and his heart pounded.  
  
Morality was still talking about the symptoms Anxiety was experiencing.  
_The youngest didn't eat this morning and yet was throwing up? Was it a result of the high fever?  
_  
He needed to calm down and think rationally. What would quickly bring down a high fever-  
  
**_"/Would an ice bath help?/"  
  
_** "Try a cold shower first, get him in there but have the water warm, then gradually decrease the temperature. Getting too cold, too fast might send him into shock"  
  
**"/I figured, but I still have no idea how his fever spiked back up-/"  
**  
"Do you want me to go help-"  
  
**_"/No, you've missed two weeks of school already, besides it's not too bad, it just startled me that's all, if it were serious I'd come get you myself ok?/"  
_**  
"But-"  
**_  
"/But nothing Logic, we can't afford you wearing yourself thin. You're already running on fumes and have your students to take care of right now, I can handle Anxiety. I'll keep you updated on the situation/"  
  
_** "..al-alright...", The teacher was rather sceptical.  
  
Morality picked up on it.  
  
**_"/Logan, I'm serious, I can handle. I'll text you after the shower, I'll call if there's no change and if things get worse I'll go get you myself or I'll send one of the kids, ok?/"  
  
_** The Logical personality sighed, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"Fine, just make sure you get him to eat something afterwards, if he throws up again, at least it won't be acid"  
  
**_"/That was the plan teach, don't worry too much, Anxiety's a strong kiddo/"  
_**  
"I know"  
  
The call soon ended and Logan assumed that the Father was already helping the youngest personality into the tub. With another sigh and a shaky run of his fingers through his hair, the Teacher tried his best to calm his rapidly beating heart.  
  
He checked his phone before placing it in his pocket, **_it was 2:10pm._**   
  
Biting his lip, Logic took a deep breath and exhaled as he put up his emotionless facade. Morality was right, he had his students to take care of and he needed to remain professional.  
  
Turning around he made his way back into the class.  


* * *

  
  
Unbeknownst to the teacher, majority, _if not all,_ of his students had stood up and were peeking through the section of the door's clear glass.  
  
They couldn't hear his conversation but they could infer that it wasn't a good call, especially considering how distraught he looked or how many times he sighed or ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
The three students from his 8:00am class, Valerie, Luíz and Philla, glanced worriedly at him, it was then they realized how exhausted he truly was. Stress lines creased his forehead, his face was pale with dark tones sitting beneath his eyes.  
  
  
_How long had he been hiding it?  
_  
Valerie sighed, she could easily guess that it was Morality who called him, meaning Anxiety was getting worse. Instantly she felt guilty, she should have visited Thomas yesterday, _who knows what effect the youngest manifestation's sickness would have on her friend?  
_  
Blinking out of her thoughts, the Veiwer realized that Logan was coming back.  
  
"Everybody sit down!" She whisper shouted.  
  
Everyone quickly scrambled to their seats, just in time for the straight faced Teacher to walk in.

* * *

  
Morality blinked twice, the glow in his eyes soon faded to give way to his chocolate brown irises. He sighed, guilt pooling into his very being, he knew the risks of using his ability and yet he still did it.  
  
They all had abilities, different ones that were supposed to protect their host during an emergency. Each ability had three parts, a fatal, a second effect and a consequence.  
  
  
His fatal was called **End**.   
  
Aptly named for it was the ability to end emotions and even personalities without harming his manifestor, this was to protect the host should one of the emotions or personalities go haywire.   
With nothing more than a few seconds of contact, he could destroy an emotion or split a personality into two core emotions _and then destroy them._

 

The consequence in doing so, of course, meant a massive energy drain, on top of that, he would then have to fill in the role of the "ended" one until a new emotion or personality was formed, _which could take a while_ , thus the reason the ability was a last resort.  
  
His second effect was called **Calm**. This as it states is the ability was able to calm down any emotion or personality. Usually when they are causing too much of a scene and affecting the host. The **Calm** tended to sedate the emotion or personality at best and at worst put them into a coma like state for a few days.   
  
_Unfortunately **Calm** was the pretence for **End** , meaning that if it was used too long, it could split an emotion or personality in two_.  
  
The father shook his head, to use Calm on Anxiety... the youngest was already ill, weak and tired, he was afraid of what it would do to the darker personality, after all, " _calm_ " was the very opposite of his being.  
  
It wouldn't hurt him, not really, the Calm did have its range of minor adverse effects but ideally it merely relaxes one and puts them to sleep, which in this case was the other problem. The dreamless sleep provided by the ability only lasted a little while and with Thomas having nightmares it would do no good to have Anxiety panicking again.  
  
Then of course, came the implications of the fact, trust was a hard thing to gain from the youngest and Dad using his ability on him was likely a breach of that trust.   
  
Biting his lip, the Parental quickly sent a text to Logic and then stood up, much too easily with Anxiety in his arms. He carried the younger to the Commons where he gently placed him down on the couch.   
  
Moving quietly, Morality grabbed an ice pack from the first-aid kit in the kitchen and placed it on Anxiety's forehead. He ignored the worried glances from the other children, he felt far too guilty to look at them.  
  
He went back to the kitchen, his Daughter and Son didn’t hesitate to follow him, leaving Steven, Pranks and Misleading Compliment in the living room. He didn't see the confused faces aimed at him or the worried looks they gave Anxiety.  


* * *

  
  
The Teacher pulled open the door, his facade already in place.  
  
"Sorry about that class, now, where were we?" He said this with a small smile, one that would have been believable had his students not seen his stressed expression prior.  
  
Thomas was a good actor, but acting can only do so much when one knows your act **_is_** an act.   
  
He didn't know that his students knew the truth, not the complete truth obviously, but enough to see through the façade. But then again, they said nothing as he returned to the board and continued explaining the equation.  
  
"All you have to do is transpose the -¾X to the right, divide by the denominator and you get X which equals to 2. Any questions?"  
  
To Logan's surprise, quite a few hands went up. Usually in any other class, like English per say, that number of raised hands would be a good thing, but this was Math.  
  
He answered their questions on by one, most weren't even questions, just restatements, _"so you’re telling me that we just transpose to remove the negative and then we divide?"  
_  
"Questions" like that would usually infuriate him, simply because they were redundant but this was the first time in a while that he had the attention of his entire class, so he let it slide.  
  
Logic gave them another practice equation and told them to try it on their own for ten minutes. He quietly went to sit down at his desk, the feeling of eyes staring through his back had finally become a bit too unnerving to handle.   
  
**_Something felt off.  
_**  
Shakily exhaling he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He had to put his marker down for fear of it slipping out of his hands. He was a teacher so he was used to being stared at, but not like this.  
  
Logan swallowed thickly, the particular stare or stares he was receiving weren't usual, it felt as if someone was analysing his very being, it caused him to shiver slightly for some reason.  
  
Glancing around the class, the Teacher somehow locked eyes with Valerie's and in a second glance Philla's.

He frowned, now the unnerving feeling suddenly made sense, the Viewers were practically scanning his aura. Not liking it one bit, he masked his aura completely.  
  
The Secondary personality watched as girls blinked, startled by the fact that the vivid Navy blue aura just vanished, even though he remained right in front of them.   
  
He almost smirked, but having already activated half of his ability, he decided that he might aswell use the other half to figure out why in the world they would try to-  
  
He paused, eyes widening ever so slightly as he looked at the girls, both of their auras were flooded with concern and confusion. Taking another glance around the class he could now clearly see-well sense, that most of his students' auras, including those of the partial manifestations, were also confused and concerned about his wellbeing.  
  
The Teacher sighed internally, finally realizing that they could all see through his act. One side of him felt offended, he had Thomas' acting skills, his host was a very good actor... _objectively_.   
  
The other, more professional, side of him was impressed with the level of skill in which they analysed his aura but then again with thirty or so students doing the same thing, it was the equivalent of them all pointing silently at him, hence the reason for the instant discomfort.  
  
Rolling his eyes to show his appreciative irritation at their concern, Logan stood up from his desk.   
  
"Alright, ten minutes is up, who wants to answer the question?"  
  
To everyone's surprise, Luíz raised his hand.  


* * *

  
  
"Dad, what happened to Anxiety?"  
  
"Yeah, his entire aura feels off"  
  
Morality bit his lip, keeping his eyes downcast, of all of the children for him to face right now, these two were not the best, especially given how touchy they were with the topic.  
  
His daughter stared at him curiously, he knew it wouldn't take long, she was a very perceptive child- her eyes widened, _she put the pieces together_. Instantly her inquisitive questions became berating and her gaze turned cold.  
  
"How could you?!"  
  
His son jumped, confused as to what his sister was talking about.  
  
"What did he do?" Asked the boy, a bit timidly.  
  
The girl glared at him, well it looked like a glare to the Father at least, his son seemed to read the look like a book and immediately jumped to his sister's side, his expression changing from confused to purely offended.  
  
"Why?! You know what it can do!", the boy's eyes held the pain of betrayal.  
  
Great, two of his children hated him- _and now they were talking at the same time, **they were really mad at him.  
**_  
You know exactly what happens when you use your abilities! Did you forget about Joy? Love is split! And what about us? Did you forget what happ-"  
  
**"I know!"** , shouted Dad, the kids took a step back, startled by the outburst. He deflated with a sigh. "I know, I didn't forget, I only used Calm on him for a few seconds-"  
  
"But why?"  
  
Their expressions, **_too young to look so broken.  
  
_** "Because he was starting to panic and I was starting to panic and- _I don't know!_ "  
By now the Parental was pacing, running his hand through his hair frantically. "It's just that one moment he's better and then the next he's worse and then better, then worse. It's as terrifying as it is infuriating!"  
  
The siblings watched as the Prominent personality continued his pacing, their previous anger dissolving instantly into guilt and concern. _The Parent was still talking.  
  
_ "And what's worse is that because he was about to panic, I panicked and used my ability-"  
  
"abilities?"  
  
The Father and his children froze, turning their heads to the voice, young Steven stared right back at them.  
  
Dad scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Uh, well you see-"  
  
"I mean, we know you have abilities, we know what they do, but what about the others?"  
  
The three blinked "we?"  
  
Pranks and Misleading Compliment appeared from behind the embodiment of imagination, sheepishly waving.  
  
"Yes, we", reiterated Steven.  
  
Morality sighed. "Alright, it's best I just tell you all", he took a breath and then continued, "my abilities are Calm and End, Logic has two aswell, his are called Mask and Reveal"  
  
The three children surrounded the Father, all entranced with learning that the adults practically had super powers. The siblings were also entranced, only knowing of Dad's abilities but not the others.  
  
Morality smiled sadly, it was adorable how they gathered, just as they would for Storytelling time, but this particular story, was **dark** , he wasn't sure he wanted to tell it. Nonetheless, once a story was started it must be finished, so the Father continued on.  
  
" **Mask** is the ability to completely hide one's aura. Logan can hide his own and the aura of any one he chooses, this especially includes our host. **Mask** has its double though, with his aura hidden, Logic is able to see everyone else's clearly, he can read auras like a book-"  
  
"And yet he can't understand emotions", snickered Pranks. The others chuckled at the jab.  
  
"Ironic isn't it?" Smirked Morality, the children giggled and parent continued on.  
  
" **Reveal** is the other ability, with it Logan can reveal one's inner thoughts through their aura, long story short, don't lie to the Teach kids, he'll know" 

* * *

  
  
"Why do I not believe you Francis?" Logic raised a brow, a small movement that somehow looked both amused and condescending at the same time.  
  
"You believed Estah!" Complained the boy.  
  
"That's because her story seems plausible and because she is not one to slack off when regarding assignments-"  
  
"Yeah right, you're just letting her slide because she's a girl"  
  
Logan's eye twitched.  
  
"Too bad she's a lesbo-"  
  
The Black girl mentioned bowed her head, her bouncy afro covered her eyes like a curly curtain, she obviously didn't want that information known to the whole class.  
  
The Logical personality grit his teeth.  
  
"That's enough! I'll have you know that I treat each of my students equally, regardless of gender, race and or sexuality. That was not your right to say, now apologize to Estah and you'll be walking to the Principals office right after"  
  
"Fine! But I want to know why you'd believe her and not me", Francis crossed his arms, the pale, raven haired boy's face was flushed red with embarrassment and anger.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Logic glanced at Estah.  
  
"I-uh, well, Eliža Lori is my best friend, I was at her house yesterday doing my English homework and I kinda forgot it there? I wanted to ask her if she could bring it for me but she didn't come to school this afternoon-"  
  
Francis grew livid.  
  
"You believe that? It's not even a good lie!-"  
  
"That's because it's not!" Shouted Estah in protest.  
  
"Sure it isn't-", the boy's sneer was cut off by a knock.   
  
The door opened to reveal a blond lady in a business suit holding a purple notebook, she gave the class and Logan a smile and then easily ambled over to Estah.   
  
"Sweetheart, you forgot your book at my house, poor Ližžy was worried about you, she said it was graded"  
  
The little black girl nodded happily, her curly fringe bouncing as she did so, "thank you Mrs. Lori!"  
  
"Not a problem dear!"   
  
With that the woman left, closing the door behind her. Estah easily walked up to the Teacher and handed him the notebook before quickly sitting back down again.  
  
Logic opened the book to the most recent page, lo and behold was the assignment he had given the day before. Smirking, he showed the page to the class, specifically Francis.  
  
"Her story was not a lie, now _what_ was yours again Mr. Idaly?"  
  
Francis grit his teeth.  
  
"I told you, my baby sister tore up my homework"  
  
Logan rolled his eyes, if it weren't for **Mask** his eyes would be glowing a piercing Navy blue but because it was hidden no one knew he was using his ability.  
  
Francis' aura was flailing, nothing big, the movement was more akin to a flame's dance. The boy stayed straight faced and confident even though angry, truly it was an impressive lie, but Logic knew better, _he could see it._

 

" _Really_?" He said as he moved towards his desk. Sitting down, he picked up another notebook from his desk and began looking through it nonchalantly. He then looked up at the boy, his eyes cold, "because as far as I know, _you're an only child_ "  
  
Francis' eyes widened and his entire face turned red. The class laughed at his reaction, prompting him to storm out.  
  
"To the Principal's office Mr. Idaly-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm gone Teach"  
  
Logan huffed as the boy left the class with a slam of the door. "Alright class, now that interruption is over with, you all still have an essay to write for me"  
  
The class groaned but continued their work, their topics were on the board after all.  
  
With them working again, the Teacher sighed into his chair, really all he wanted to do was just go home, this was his last class.  
  
His math class had ended surprisingly well, despite the phone call of course, he had received the text from Morality, which calmed his nerves some and Luíz had answered the equation correctly, finishing up the moment the bell rang.  
  
It was a surprise to see all his students pay attention during Math of all things, but he wasn't complaining. His English class prior to this went just as smoothly, his students were eerily quiet and extremely attentive.  
  
Then again it could have just been his imagination, he was still a bit unsettled by Eliža's warning, especially considering that he got the call just ten minutes after.   
  
Sighing again he ran a shaky hand through his hair, he needed to calm down, his aura was starting to reappear. He had decided to keep using **Mask** and was holding up well, until now. His stress was causing his control to slip, not a good thing with his current mental state.  
  
He exhaled, and forced himself to calm down, retracting back the little slivers of his aura that seeped through the cracks of his control. Looking around, he noticed that while everyone else was writing their essay, about six of his students looked up at him, concern etched in their faces, _they had sensed his aura.  
_  
Frowning at the loss of his control and because of the fact that he made his students worry, Logan clenched his nails into his fist, he _hated_ losing control and he _hated_ when they worried about him because he was losing said control.  
  
He looked at the clock then, trying to keep his voice steady, he addressed the class - well he wanted to, Estah and the other five students who had sensed his aura, we're watching him, attempting to view it once more. He didn't like that.  
  
"You have ten more minutes"  
  
The entire class gasped in horror and quite a few made their protest known.  
  
"We have 40 minutes of class left!" Complained a boy at the back.   
  
"Yeah!" Shouted a girl to the front.  
  
"Give us more time!" Shouted someone in the middle.  
  
Logic rolled his eyes, he just wanted to go home- _wait, he could_. He stood up straight, letting his voice cut through the noise of the children.  
  
"Once you’re finished and you hand in your papers, you can leave"  
  
The class went quiet, all students looked at him warily, _Mr. Logan **never** let anyone out of class early._  
  
"Woah, sir, you alright?"  
  
Logic sighed internally, the boy was one of the six who had looked up.   
  
"I'm fine Issac"  
  
No one looked the slightest bit convinced.

* * *

  
"The consequence of having his abilities, to be able to see through lies, means that he can't lie either"  
  
"You know, that explains a lot", this time it was Misleading Compliment who interrupted.  
  
Morality chuckled, "well, he does like facts and what good are they if they’re not true, hmm?"  
  
"Fair enough", the Prankster gave an inclined nod, "what else?"  
  
"Well, there's Princey's abilities-"  
  
"Cool!"  
  
The children all looked so eager, he gave them a tight-lipped smile. He refused to tell them Logan's fatal. **Reveal** did not only allow the Secondary personality to view another's aura, it allowed him to move it, control it to a degree.   
  
He could make it shrink up or flare out, continuously. The extreme sporadic flickering of one's aura was painful and deadly, the heart attack or stroke one could get from it would be considered _mercy_.

 

With an internal, yet somehow, shaky sigh, the father continued with Roman's abilities.

* * *

  
  
He couldn't lie and he was a terrible liar for reasons but half-truths tended to work just fine.  
  
"Alright, I'm not...as fine as I would like to be", the class grew tense, _good they were listening_ , "I'm just tired, it is only the second day from my two week return after all and teaching six classes can be a bit draining"  
  
Majority of the class bought it, it wasn't a lie after all, teaching six classes did have its toll on him, but of course that wasn't what was bothering him. The six students, who had actually sensed his aura, gave him a look but said nothing as they continued their work.  
  
Logic sighed internally.  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"  
_**

* * *

  
  
"Prince's abilities are **Form** and **Call**. He's the only one able to form weapons outside of the mindscape. His sword is the prime example, he can protect himself, others and even Thomas with it. **Call** is the ability to bring imagined creations outside as well, like our favourite little bird Blue"  
  
He said that just as the blue creature popped into the mindscape. It twittered around the children, happily flying in a circle around their heads before landing on one and jumping from shoulder to shoulder.  
  
The Parent, smiled as he watched the children interact with the blue bird, he didn't dare didn't tell them that _Roman's sword was_ _very well capable of piercing human flesh_ if need be.  
  
"So what are Anxiety's abilities?"  
  
Morality blinked at Steven, all the children had gathered around him again, Blue having flown off somewhere, likely to find Roman.  
  
"Oh right, sorry kiddos, I spaced out, Anxiety's abilities are-", he was cut off by a groan.  
  
"Looks like Anxiety's waking up", commented his daughter.  
  
"Looks like, can you go check on him for me?"  The children nodded and moved to the couch, eager to check on their "big brother" figure.  
  
Dad sighed, running a hand through his head ** _, "_** _come on Patton, get it together, put that smile back on, your scaring the kids!"  
_  
Shaking his head, the Father took out some ingredients, muttering quietly to himself the whole while.  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"  
  
_**

* * *

  
  
Anxiety woke with a groan.  
  
The world around him was blurry and- _that's it, just blurry_ , his head didn't hurt for once, but it did feel a bit muddled. He felt sleepy, despite the fact that he just woke up.  
  
Yawning, he opened his eyes fully, only to be met with the Kids.  
  
"Hey Anxiety"  
  
"Hey Squirt", he mumbled.  
  
The girl ignored the nickname.  
  
"How you feeling?"  
  
"Weird", he breathed, "everythin'sall fuzzy-"  
  
"Like... vision wise?"  
  
"No, I can see clearly-t's just my head, it feels fuzzy and I don' like it"  
  
It was nothing unusual to see the dark personality sleepy and slurring his words when he just woke up, but it was odd to see Anxiety so open and honest.  
  
"Want me to call dad?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah...", he nodded.  
  
  
She left, leaving the boys alone to talk.  


* * *

  
  
The girl headed to the kitchen to speak to the Parent. He was cooking something on the stove.  
  
"Hey Dad..."  
  
Morality turned around.  
  
"How is he?"  
  
"He says his head feels fuzzy, he's slurring a few of his words but other than that, he's regular old Anxiety, **_still in one piece_** "  
  
"He's still sleepy isn't he?"  
  
"Yep, I'm guessing it's an effect of **Calm**?"  
  
"Yeah, Logan was really tired too, kept walking into walls and stuff"  
  
"Wait, you used **Calm** on him too? When?"  
  
"A while back, during Thomas' high school finals"  
  
"Huh, ok then, if the effects were harmless, then why were you freaking out? I thought it would be another repeat of what happened to Love-"  
  
"I was worried that the affect would be worse than Logic's, I mean he almost fell down the stairs at one point"  
  
The girl giggled.  
  
"He'll be alright"  
  
Morality smiled at her, hoping she was right. Keeping the smile, he turned off the stove and went to greet the younger personality.  


* * *

  
  
Anxiety was sitting up, talking with the other kids about their day. Turns out they were having a movie marathon day today.

 

"So you up for it?"  
  
"Sure thing ***yawn*** Shrimp"  
  
He rolled his eyes as the boys laughed at him but it was all in good fun.  
  
Squirt and Dad then appeared, the girl instantly went to stand next to her brother, leaving the Parental facing him.  
  
"Heya kiddo, how ya feelin?"  
  
Anxiety shrugged and for a second he could swear that he saw Morality frown.  
  
"Just tired, I guess"  
  
The father seemed to brighten.  
  
"That's alright sport, I've made you something to eat to get your energy back"  
  
The dark personality grimaced, Morality saw it and chuckled.   


* * *

  
  
Anxiety stared at the bowl of yellow...stuff in Dad's hands.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Honey custard"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You know, custard"  
  
"Again, what?"  
  
"It's basically honey flavoured porridge, it will help settle your stomach"  
  
"And if it doesn't?"  
  
Dad but his lip and shrugged. "It'll be easier to come up?"  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes, "Fine but it still looks like soup"  
  
"Just try it, if you don't like it I'll make you something else, kay?"  
  
Morality handed him the bowl and a spoon. Anxiety held it warily.  
  
He took one spoonful and went quiet.   
  
The father sighed and was about to take the bowl away from the younger...Anxiety pulled the closer to himself and took another spoonful.  
  
The father laughed.  
  
Gently he ushered the darker personality to the living room, only to stop and witness what the kids had done.  


* * *

  
  
Logan sighed as he finished collecting the essays from his students. With all the papers in his hands he technically finished with his last class, meaning he had all right to go home, which he gladly did.  
  
When he appeared in the commons he was met with...a Giant pillow fort?   
  
Colourful sheets and blankets covered it making it look like a giant tent rather than a fort, there were even sheets acting as tent flaps for the exit and entrance. It was huge enough to surround the Viewing Screen and the better half of the entire living room.   
  
The Teacher blinked, and soon enough Morality crawled right out of it.  
  
"Hey Teach"  
  
"Oh, hello Morality, what's this?"  
  
"A giant Pillow fort!" Exclaimed Steven, popping his head out.  
  
"Alright, may I ask what for?"  
  
"Their having a Movie marathon day today", piped Anxiety as he too crawled out, the youngest personality then stood up, albeit shakily and headed for the kitchen, an empty bowl and spoon in hand.  
  
Once more the Teacher blinked, he didn't miss the way the younger swayed, another thing he noticed was how subdued Anxiety's aura was. It was as if another was covering it, but comfortably, like a blanket. Logic knew exactly what that 'blanket' did.  
  
He turned to the Father, eyes questioning but voice steady. "You used Calm on him, why?"  
  
Morality simply gave him a smile, "don't worry about it", Logan was about to say something when Anxiety trudged over with a yawn. The younger then proceeded to crawl back into the pillow fort where he contentedly curled up with the Children.  
  
"It helped?" He asked confused.  
  
"It did-"  
  
"But for how long?"  
  
"Tomorrow is long enough, it's a new day after all"  
  
_"Yes and new day bring about plenty more adventures"_

The two elder Personalities spun around only to meet a tired looking Prince.  


* * *

  
  
Roman woke up to shrill chirps in his ear.  
  
Peeling his eyes open, he flipped onto his back with great difficulty. The Royal barley managed to focus his eyes on the little blue blob that was screeching at him.  
  
"Blue, Blue, _shhh_ , if you continue you're going to give me a headache friend"  
  
The bird stopped instantly and gently went to perch on the Prince's chest. It twittered at him.  
  
"I'm fine, just tired", he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "Do you know what time it is?"  
  
Blue flew off his chest, circled around his nightstand and then returned and twittered at him.  
  
"4:37pm, _hmm_ , that means I fell asleep about a half hour ago-"  
  
Blue chirped and twittered at him.  
  
"Geoffrey? He's worried about me? Why?"  
  
Once again the blue bird twittered at him.  
  
"Ah, well I did just fight a Dragon before seeing him and Vera, I highly doubt that I looked anything less that exhausted"  
  
The bird whole heartedly agreed.  


* * *

 

 

"Blue, Blue calm down", Prince waved around his arms, the blue creature was pecking at him and pulling his collar, attempting to coax him back to bed, " I'm just going to check on Anxiety-"  
  
The Royal paused, he heard voices outside, specifically a voice, it was too early for Logan to be home. Ignoring his exhaustion, he moved as quickly as his tired body could take him only to pause in the hallway. Logic and Morality were having a semi-sombre conversation, meaning his emo-nightmare was probably fine.  
  
He waited for a moment before butting in, it would do neither of them any good to bring their moods down, that and there was a giant Pillow fort near them. You shouldn't be sad and serious near a pillow fort, it was simply unheard of.  
  
"Yes and new day bring about plenty more adventures"  
  
The elder personalities smiled at him and after a few seconds Anxiety popped his head out to greet him, seemingly feeling more energetic than this morning. Which is more than he could say for himself, his exhaustion came to back to hit him at full force.  


* * *

  
  
"There you are Princey, was wondering where you've been, there's no way in hell your meeting just finished"  
  
"No ***yawn*** it finished quite a while ago-"  
  
"Then why-?"  
  
"I ***yawn*** was fighting a Dragon-"  
  
"Is that why you look like the Yawning dead?"  
  
Prince grew a tad bit offended, "Why don't you fight a Dragon and tell me how you feel afterwards"  
  
"Fair enough, now get in here, we're watching Black Cauldron"  
  
Shrugging the Royal crawled in, it was a Disney movie after all.  
  
The two elders outside the fort blinked before chuckling.  
  
"Hey, aren't you two coming in?" Pranks popped his head out to ask.  
  
"I'd be happy to oblige", the Teacher bit his tongue, he had essays to grade but screw it he was tired and he needed the break, "but first I need a shower"  
  
"Come to think if it Kiddos, I haven't showered yet either, I'll join in afterwards, ok?"  
  
"Sure thing Dad!" With that Pranks crawled further into the fort and the adults went to bathe.  


* * *

  
  
"So, what movies should we watch tonight?"  
  
"No clue Squirt, you pick"  
  
"Anxiety, I'm asking you!"  
  
The personality in question was laying on his back, hands behind his head, uncharacteristically relaxed.  
  
"Ask Princey, he's the Disney queen after all", he mumbled.  
  
Roman either didn't hear him or didn't care, likely the former, he seemed to be quite out of it.   
  
Looking right the Dark personality could see the Prince fighting with his eye-lids. It wasn't the usual battle though, his eyes weren't drooped down as low as they should be. Instead his unfocused eyes remained half open, his lids attempted to cover them but because the Royal avidly refused to let them, they stayed at just a little pass over the half mark, so really it looked like his eyelids were twitching rather than drooping.    
  
So there the Regal Personality lay, as he propped his head up on a hand, his eyelids twitching as he stared forward with half open unfocused eyes.  
  
Anxiety reached out to poke his cheek, the reaction was instant, Roman sat up so startled that his tongue made a clicking sound. "Huh?" Everybody laughed, leaving the Royal extremely confused. "What's going on?   
  
"We're trying to figure out what movies we should watch tonight", explained Morality's Son, "how about sleeping beauty?"  
  
Princey winced at the thought of seeing Maleficent, his right side stung momentarily for some reason. "Um, let's **_not_** , how about the Little Mermaid?"  
  
Pranks looked at the Royal, "there's two movies for that right?"  
  
"Three", answered both Prince and Anxiety at the same time.  
  
The kids laughed, both personalities had red faces. To their luck, a small chirp shut the children up in seconds, but only for _four seconds_. Their laughter turned into squeals as they began playing with Blue.  
  
The blue bird flew around them for a bit before landing on Anxiety's head.  
  
"You really like my hair don't you?" Asked the Dark personality, he was petting the smooth pile of feathers that was atop his hair.  
  
Blue chirped out an affirmative.  
  
This time they all broke down into laughter.

 

By the time Logic and Morality had returned, dressed comfortably in their respective onesies, everyone had already snuggled down and were currently fixated on the screen.  
  
It was a very cute sight. Anxiety rested on Prince's chest with Blue on his shoulder, while Steven was leaning on Anxiety. Pranks had his feet over Steven's lap, the Prankster and Misleading Compliment were curled up together while half leaning on the Vine siblings. Dad being a dad took a picture before crawling in with Logan behind him.   


* * *

  
  
Somewhere around midnight all the "adults" had fallen asleep, leaving them the job of cleaning up. Not that they minded, this was their idea after all.  
  
Quietly Pranks, _along with Blue_ , picked up the popcorn kernels, Misleading Compliment grabbed the chip bags, Steven cleared up the soda bottles, while the Vine siblings covered the Personalities with blankets.  
  
They chuckled at how the elders fell asleep, Anxiety was snuggled onto Princey's chest, while the Royal's arm was draped protectively around the younger's waist.  
  
Logic was curled up across Morality's hip and back, Dad was drooling on a pillow. Rolling their eyes, the kids, _and bird_ , continued with clean up, that is until Morality shifted.  
  
Each one of them paused, and then had to bite their lips to stop their laughter. Dad had shifted and somehow moved Logan in front of him and onto his chest. The Teacher didn't stir but instead curled into the embrace.  
  
**The elder pair now mirrored the younger.  
**  
The children gave each other a look, then simultaneously took out their phones and took a picture.

* * *

  
  
**AN:// aaaay, fluff, look it also look at the title and finish the saying... ;)  
  
I hath brought you thine fluff, areth thou pleased?  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK :   
BY @PatchRandom  
"Prince: I hate dragons, especially when they spit fire...  
Me: Yeah, they tend to do that... a lot...   
  
I hope you’re feeling okay,  and you get better soon, love your writing, can we have a quick stop in fluff town please? It's only that we zoomed right past the last one. :)"  
  
We arrived at the fluff field, you're welcome dear ;)  
  
~  
OK so you may have noticed that I skipped last week's update, no unfortunately I wasn't taking a break. Quite the opposite really. I hadn't been feeling to well, not physically or mentally. Migraines and Breakdowns galore and oh right, I have to work to pay off my medical bills, which by the way, causes more back pain. On top of that here's the kicker, everyday since the last update I've been receiving hate comments. Usually I can deal but 3 is legit the minimum I've daily gotten since the last chap. Just yesterday I was so ready to update when I got quite frankly the longest most elaborate comment on why I should stop writing and kill myself, perfect for the ol' self-esteem huh? I've done and redone this chapter so many times? I've removed so much things from it, hell you would have gotten Anxiety's ability and a hell of a lot more angst to make up for last week's miss.  
_But the hate hit me hard.  
_ Of course I got a few nice peeps that sent comforting words to me and really it would have helped and y'all would have gotten this chap yesterday at like midnight or something but right as I was calming down from what was about to be another breakdown... I got this: _"Stop begging for attention, it's gotten old and annoying"  
_ Yeah, so you get the chapter today.   
Sorry... **


	20. Before

Waking up from the pleasantly hazy **_'afterglow'_** like feeling wasn't easy.

* * *

  
  
Logic woke with a small groan, well he wasn't awake per say. His eyes were closed and he was happily buried in the familiar warmth that encompassed him.    
He would have been content with remaining in the comfortable warmth and possibly slipping back into complete sleep but his phone's alarm was going off.  
  
Opening his eyes he realized two things, his glasses were still on his face, albeit slanted and **_Morality was the warmth_**. Waking up in the father's arms brought an odd sensation to the Teacher, his cheeks itched for some reason and once more he wondered if he was also getting sick.  
  
He wasn't one for too much contact, last night was obviously an exception and even though there wasn't any attachment, the Parental's embrace simply felt...right? _Wasn't Anxiety a bit delirious when he first started getting sick?  
_  
He blinked out of his thoughts when the Prominent shifted, pulling him flush to his chest. Instead of pushing himself away, the Secondary found himself curling, simply letting the elder pull him closer. He didn't know why, Morality's embrace just felt nice and comfortable.   
  
He could still hear his alarm but it was obvious that only he was the only one, granted his phone was _all_ _the way_ in his room. The Teacher sighed, he needed to get up but for some inane reason all he wanted to do was just lay and remain in the Parental's embrace.   
  
It took half way to falling back asleep to realize why. When the father was truly tired, his aura tended to exude the feeling of calmness, not exactly Calm but the effect was the same. Recalling that he did in fact have a class to teach soon, Logic yawned and began carefully wriggling out of Morality's gentle hold.  
  
Now free, his view changed from only the gray of the Father's onesie to the entire fort they were in. Looking around, he noticed that the children were no longer inside, likely having gone to sleep in their own rooms.   
  
Turning a little more, a smile graced his lips as he saw what was no doubt an amusing site, **Princey and Anxiety were still curled up together.  
**  
The youngest was flush atop the Tertiary's chest, comfortably curled as he held onto the Royal's pyjamas in a semi-loose grip. The Prince had Anxiety in an embrace not unlike the one Morality had on him. One arm curled around the younger's waist, while the other was at his side.   
  
The Logical Personality snickered silently, the two polar opposites, different as the literal day and night... _were locked in a lover's embrace_. With their legs tangled together like that the Teacher could already surmise that their wake up call would be very amusing.  
  
Speaking of a wake-up call, his alarm was still going off. Sighing again he carefully crawled out of the fort and went to get ready, he had to sub Homeroom again after all.

* * *

 

  
Once in his room the Teacher quickly grabbed his phone and dismissed his alarm, it was **6:18am**. The time caused him to frown, his thoughts instantly going to the Prince. Did he have another meeting today?  
  
Snapping his fingers the Logical personality appeared in front of the fort. Crawling in silently, so as not to wake the others, he shook Princey's free arm.  
  
"Roman"  
"Roman"  
"Roman!" He whisper shouted.  
  
" _Mnh_ , huh?", the Royal blinked, obviously half awake.  
  
"Do you have a meeting today?"  
  
Roman squinted at him.  
  
" _Mhm_ eeting?...No, trial's at two..."  
  
Logan was confused, there hadn't been a trial in ages.  
  
"A trial? For who?"  
  
Roman didn't answer having already slipped back into sleep and buried his face in the crook of Anxiety's neck.  
  
Seeing as he wouldn't be getting any more information from the Prince, Logic rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, appeared in his room and continued getting ready. 

* * *

  
  
After a nice refreshing shower, Logic headed to check on the others, _a certain father in particular_. Seeing as last night's activities had exhausted the Parental, he took it upon himself to make the children breakfast again. A few Sandwiches for the kids and the other three seemed sufficient.

When the food was set, he decided to go check up on the children, they should be waking up at this time.  
  
Teleporting in front of the Vine siblings' room required a bit of concentration, but given his rank and stature as a Secondary Personality, the task was done easy enough. It still took the average two seconds to do so, despite the fact that none of the children lived in the same mind space as the personalities. They all lived in Suburban like town with its own neighbouring emotions, those of which were not bound by the six Kingdoms.  
  
The Teacher placed a hand to his head, wincing slightly, apparently teleporting all morning could give him a minor headache, **go figure** _. It was what, the fourth time?  
_  
Rolling his eyes at his straying thoughts and the slight throbbing beneath his eyebrows, the Logical personality knocked on the door.  
  
Almost instantly the children opened the door. Logan quirked a brow.  
  
"How long were you up?", he asked.  
  
"About a couple minutes before your alarm went off", replied Morality's daughter with a shrug.  
  
"And the others?-"  
  
"Oh, they're up too, all of them are in Steven's room, we just came in here to get our Legos"  
  
True to the word, Morality's son held up a container of the brightly coloured blocks.  
Logic gave a nod of acknowledgement to the boy, the child beamed brightly and then bolted, running straight into Steven's room.  
  
The Teacher rolled his eyes fondly before returning his attention to the girl. "Alright, have fun, breakfast is on the table-"  
  
"What did Dad-"  
  
"He's still asleep, as are the other two"  
  
"Oh"  
  
The child looked crestfallen, Logan frowned, it was far too early for them both to be bitter. "Prince and Anxiety are still curled up together"  
  
The girl looked him curiously, brow quirked to the testament.  
  
"Their legs are quiet tangled-"  
  
"You're kidding", she giggled, mood instantly rising.  
  
"Not at all"  
  
"Oh, I gotta see this"  
  
With that she willed her phone to her hand and ran silently down the hall, a wide mischievous smile now plastered upon her face.  
  
Logic shook his head, a smile always looked better on children, even if it was a devious one. Teleporting to his room again, he grabbed his needed school materials before manipulating his door to open in the school parking lot.  
  
Stepping through the impromptu 'portal' and watching as the door then vanished, the Teacher then checked his Phone for the time, **6:50.** Good, he still had a whole ten minutes to spare. Putting his phone away, Logan headed to the class he was subbing homeroom for.

* * *

  
Anxiety woke with a shiver.  
  
Not one from the cold, no, he was pleasantly warm, it was something else. An odd tingling feeling at the base of his neck, a different one from when his hair was played with. It was a much...erm _sensual_ feeling.  
  
It happened again, the tingling spreading from his neck straight down his spine, the feeling was surprisingly nice?   
  
He unintentionally let out a... **sigh** , _it was a sigh_.   
  
He was going to ignore the sound he made when heard a whisper of his name and the tingling feeling returned. His eyes peeled slightly at the feeling of movement beneath him, it wasn't till he heard his name again and a flash of red shifted past his peripherals-  
  
**Brown eyes snapped open wide and the dark personality shot up into a sitting position.**  
  
Anxiety instantly turned red, but he was lucky no one heard anything, Logic and the kids were gone and Dad and Prince were still aslee- **_Prince, he was laying on the Prince._** The Royal's breath was the tingling against his neck, meaning that it was the fanciful personality who was whispering his name, _in his sleep._ And he made that... _sound_ because of Princey, if his face wasn't red as a tomato then, it was now.  
  
It then turned ten times redder when he realized what position he put himself when he sat up, currently, he was straddling Roman. With an almost muffled yelp the youngest trait practically threw himself off his opposite. It was a true wonder of how neither the Prominent nor the Tertiary personalitys woke from all that noise, instead they both remained deeply asleep.

Anxiety heaved a sigh, grateful that no one saw, _or heard him_. Carefully and quietly, he crawled out of the fort. He had no clue what time it was so he went to his room to get his phone, despite the fact there was a clock in the kitchen.  
  
Having gotten his phone, he was in between checking the time and viewing his notifications when he realized two things, it was **8:07** , _he was actually up early_ and yet the kids weren't around. Frowning he closed his eyes and focused, it took him longer than it normally would but he was able to pick up on it, _the sounds of laughter_.  
  
It was coming from Steven's room and by the looks of it, all of them were in there and had been for a while now. With nothing else to do, he snapped his fingers, wanting to find out what the little brats thought was so funny.  
  
**In five seconds** he found himself in front of Steven's door, the laughter had yet to cease, so he knocked, three times...in a familiar pattern-it was not a secret thing between him and the kids, _no not at all_ , he just like the sound.  
  
The laughter stopped instantly and the door creaked open.  
  
"Hi Anxiety!"  
  
Wide grins were on each of their faces.   
  
"Hey, brats", the dark personality couldn't help but grin aswell, "what's up with all the noise?"  
  
"We're playing JENGA!" Laughed Steven excitedly, "wanna join?"  
  
Anxiety shrugged, "sure, why not"

* * *

  
  
Roman was enjoying his sleep, not really caring anymore that he was his opposite's pillow, he was actually quite comfortable on his back with a sleeping Anxiety curled peacefully atop his chest.  
  
The younger held onto him, his grip was firm but his breathing was deep and even. Prince would have called it a cute sight but Anxiety had suddenly stopped smiling. He frowned when the darker personality's face pulled into a scowl.  
  
Princey's frown deepened as his opposite began mumbling apologies under his breath while his head was tossing from one side to the other. The younger's fussing prompted the Royal to run his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm him.  
  
Roman carded his lithe fingers through the soft, brown locks, giving the other a gentle scalp massage. The motions worked almost instantly, Anxiety's fussing stopped as he leaned to the touch, sleep slowly becoming more peaceful. The Regal personality smiled, he continued his ministrations until he too fell under the control of sleep.  
  
He was awoken by Anxiety's fussing again, hoping to ease the younger once more, he continued where he left off, with his fingers lightly scratching against his opposite's scalp. This time, not only did Anxiety calm, the darker personality practically melted at the feeling. The younger truly did like his hair being played with, so much so, that a particular **_sound_** slipped passed his lips, one that caused the Prince's cheeks to redden as he chuckled, he would most definitely tease the other about it later.  
  
Roman didn't know when he fell asleep again but his eyes were closed. It didn't take long for Prince to realize what had roused him out of his presumably deep slumber, Anxiety had resumed his fussing. Sighing internally in both tired frustration and pity for the younger's nightmare, the Royal attempted to open his eyes.   
  
His lids refused to pry apart no matter how much he willed them to, so he had opted to comfort his opposite by _at least_ rubbing his back. With arms of lead the Prince slowly managed to uncurl one of his arms from the protective lock to gently sooth the other.  
  
Unfortunately it would seem that Roman had taken too long and Anxiety's fussing promptly stopped, turning instead to squeezing and gripping onto the Prince beneath him. Apparently the nightmare had gotten worse, the darker personality was hissing at something.  
  
Princey was no stranger to that hissing, he himself had fell victim to Anxiety's cat like tendencies when the younger simply has had enough of their bantering.

 

Deciding that Anxiety hissing at something in his dream was better than the mumbling of consistent, heart breaking apologies, Roman continued to rub circles on his opposite's back, hoping that it would ease the younger enough for him to release his death grip.  
  
When that didn't work, the Prince decided that while he could live with the nails digging into his skin, he should probably wake Anxiety.  
  
"Anxiety", he mumbled, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears.  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
He still couldn't open his eyes  
  
"Anxiety"   
  
He felt the younger shift, but he still received no response. So he tried again.  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
The dark persona shifted again, this time stirring.  
  
"Anxiety"  
  
"- _nngh_ "  
  
The odd sound had yet to register in his sleepy mind but he did know that the younger had gasped and suddenly the warm weight he felt disappeared. Frowning, the Royal reached out blindly to find his opposite. He wanted the other to wake from his nightmare but **_not_** to move away from him. He wanted the warmth back, he felt cold without the darker personality near him for some reason. He chalked it up to the loss of the excess body heat.  
  
"Anxiety", he called hoping the younger would come back to his arms. _What? You can't just end a cuddle session like that, there were rules...or something.  
_  
"Anxiety", his voice still sounded odd to him, like it was distorted or muffled through water.  


* * *

  
  
_"-'nxiety"_  
  
Prince jolted, eyes snapping open as he suddenly sat upright, he blushed when he realized what happened. **_He_** woke himself up while calling for Anxiety in his dream, _how embarrassing._ The dream didn't really make sense either, he was literally just holding his opposite, no action, no recollection of his battle with the Dragon but he figured that was for the best.  
  
Rubbing his eyes and looking around he realized that he was still in the fort, the kids, Logic and Anxiety were nowhere in sight but Morality was asleep. The Royal thanked his lucky stars that the Father didn't hear him calling for their youngest in his sleep.  
  
Speaking of the younger, Anxiety disappearing from his arms should have been cause for worry but for some reason it didn't alarm him, frowning a bit at the thought he tried focusing on his opposite's aura. The dark Trait wasn't in his room like he had expected, as a matter of fact he was surrounded by other auras. _Why was he in kid's section of the mindscape?_  
  
Since he could sense them all close together, Princey assumed that Anxiety was in one of their rooms. Sighing, the Royal quietly crawled out of the fort, careful not to wake the father as he followed his curiosity and possibly the faint sounds of laughter.

* * *

  
  
He arrived in front of Steven's room with just a snap of his fingers. He was only a bit surprised to know that they all congregated in this particular room, having thought they'd be in the Vine siblings' room considering it was the biggest. Though it did make sense, Thomas’ inner child was the only one of the children who didn't share a room.  
  
At first the Regal personality had questioned why the only female of the group didn't get her own room, but she and her brother protested adamantly, both refusing to be separated. Pranks and Misleading Compliment had already set up a bunk bed, all four of the children were happy with those arrangements and thus the embodiment of imagination was left with his own room, not that he minded anyway.  
  
  
The boy's door was a plain white with a familiar yellow star in the center, from outside the sounds of laughter, shuffling and grumbling was twice as loud as it was in the commons.  
  
Knocking twice, Roman waited for permission to be let in, after a minute he knocked again. At the third time he opened the door himself, gently turning the knob and peering through a small space.  
  
  
"Anxiety come on!"  
  
"It's an art Pranks, be patient"  
  
"It's gonna fall-"  
  
"Zip it squirt!"  
  
_Steven was laughing  
_  
"There, see nothing fell, how much left?"  
  
"Um, I think like 20", commented Compliment.  
  
"Pass me the other ones"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Here ya go!"  
  
"Here's one!"  
  
"This one!"  
  
"I've got one!"

 

Prince smiled, watching the kids pass dominoes to Anxiety and the dark personality carefully setting them up one behind the other. The dominoes all had colors and it was apparent that they were being placed in a specific pattern, a picture if you will.  
  
Unfortunately for him, Roman couldn't see the image, as that would require him to open the door completely and possibly ruin all the hard work. Not wanting to risk it Princey gently closed the door, leaving the younger ones to have their fun. Snapping his fingers the Royal teleported to his room.   
  
It took him a minute after he was showered and dressed to notice that on the side of his window, was Blue. The little bird was curled up on the sill sound asleep and it was quite cute to hear its soft, tiny snores. Roman had expected the creature to have returned to the Kingdom but he smiled knowing of the bird's loyalty.    
  
He knew Blue was worried for him, it always did after a battle, the little bird could be quite a handful when it was ready but nonetheless he appreciated his little feathered friend. Prince smiled softly before running a finger gently down the creature's back, effectively waking it.  
  
"Good morning little one, how are you today?"  
  
The bird happily tweeted at him, before jumping on his finger.  
  
"I'm glad", chuckled Prince, "I'm also doing well-"  
  
Blue chirped.  
  
"Yep, all the soreness is gone", commented the Royal as he stretched, Fairy godmother's magic really does the trick"  
  
The blue bird seemed pleased with his answer, flying around the Personality before settling on his shoulder. With the check up done Blue gave Princey a cursory nod.  
  
Roman rolled his eyes. He was about to say something when a semi-sombre tweet made way to his ears.  
  
"Anxiety? He's fine, he's smiling even"  
  
The blue creature tilted its head and twittered suspiciously at Princey.   
  
"I'm not kidding, he was playing with the kids, it was quite cute actually"  
  
The bird blinked before jumping off the Royal's shoulder chirping happily.  
  
Roman frowned.  
  
"I don't know, it's possible. We don't know how it correlates to them. Anxiety could be having a good day while Thomas isn't"  
  
Blue twittered at him again and a small smile curled at the edge of his lips.  
  
"Two of them having a good day _is_ also possible, how about we check, _hmm_?"  
  
The affirmative chips made the Regal personality chuckle.  
  
"Fun huh? Good to know you can get along well with my host"  
  
The little bird gave him the most sarcastic chirp. Prince laughed.  
  
"Fair enough, alright then let's go"

* * *

  
  
"Oh my goodness! That is so adorable!"  
  
"What is?"  
  
Thomas on the couch jumped, causing some of the popcorn to fall from the yellow bowl on his lap.  
  
"Oh hey Prince-"  
  
A tweet.  
  
"Oh, hi Blue", chuckled the manifestor, "I was talking about this little octopus"  
  
Prince looked over the host's shoulder to see the most adorable creature on the laptop screen.   
  
"Oh my, that's so cute!"  
  
Blue gave a chirp, puffing out its little chest.   
  
"Not as cute as you Blue, but a close second", chuckled Roman as he smoothed down his little friend's feathers.  
  
Thomas laughed at their interaction.  
  
  
"So what's up? How's Anxiety?"  
  
"The little emo nightmare is doing ok, he was playing dominoes with the kids last I checked ", shrugged the Fanciful personality.  
  
  
The manifestor's eyes widened.  
  
"He's teaching them how to gamble?"  
  
"What? No!  He's helping them set it up, you know the domino effect?"  
  
  
"Ohh", blushed Thomas.  
  
Princey rolled his eyes.  
  
"We just came to see how you were doing"  
  
  
"Oh, I'm doing alright, I'm going out with Joan and Talyn, they're supposed to pick me up in a few minutes, something about wanting to drag me out if the house, were probably gonna hang out tomorrow too"  
  
"That sounds wonderful-"  
  
The Tertiary personality was cut off by a car horn and a yell of "Yo Darude Sanderstorm!"  
  
Thomas laughed, the Royal shook his head fondly and began sinking down  
  
"Well, that's Joan for ya, alright I'm gone, see you later Princey!"  
  
"Have fun Thomas, and don't forget your keys!"  
  
"Oh right!"

 

The manifestor quickly scrambled to grab his keys from off the counter. He turned as he headed toward the door but Roman and Blue were already gone.  


* * *

  
  
_"Anxiety!"  
  
"Anxiety please!"  
  
"You don't have to go!"  
  
_  
**Brown eyes snapped open.  
**  
Morality woke up with a gasp, sitting up stock straight. Placing a hand on his chest the father tried to catch his breath, his heart was beating a mile a minute.  
  
Now that he was awake he could see that he was alone in the fort. Reaching for his phone in his onesie pocket he checked the time. It was **12:02.**  
  
"Geez, I really was tired", mumbled the Prominent, "I slept half the day away"  
  
  
Sighing, he stood up and stretched before teleporting to his room and getting ready for what was left of the afternoon.   
  
His stance upon arriving in his room was shaky at best and his concentration was a bit off leaving him slightly dizzy. Then again that was probably due to the nightmare. The Parental sat on his bed with a heavy _'Pwaif'_  
  
"Get a grip Patton", he scolded himself as he clutched onto his hair. He could clearly sense that all the kids, including Anxiety and Prince, were in Steven's room and yet his mind refused to let go of his nightmare.   
  
The father decided to focus on them, hoping that hearing them laugh and play would get his mind off the possibility of- Morality shook his head.  
  
"They're fine, he's fine, they're probably just playing a game-"  
  
_'Thump'_  
  
"Anxiety!"  
  
"Anxiety please!"  
  
Those were the cries of _his_ children.  
  
"Anxiety please, I swear I'll take back every bad thing I've ever said about you, but for Disney's sake please dont!"  
  
That was Roman.  
  
"Anxiety...please don't-"  
  
The Prominent Persona didn't even hear the rest of Pranks' broken cry, with a snap of his fingers he was dressed in his normal attire and instantly situated outside Steven's door.  
  
"Sorry", called a raspy voice, there was no mistaking that it was Anxiety's.  
  
"Nooo!"  
  
The collective cry of everyone inside made tears prick at the Father's eyes, his hand was just above the door's knob-  
  
"Anxiety...why?"  
  
Steven's sad plea spurred the Parent into action, he turned the knob and open the door.

* * *

  
  
He felt like everything was moving so fast but yet going in slow motion at the same time. Instead of slamming open the door like he expected himself to, his panic betrayed him and his muscles failed him. The door opened silently and gently, just a crack of space enough for him to see majority of the room.

  
  
**Brown eyes widened.**

  
  
Morality closed the door back instantly, luckily for him no one heard it. The father sank to the floor, tears streaming down his face as he leaned with his back on the door and a hand pressed against his mouth muffling his sobs. Those inside remained oblivious, their voices rang out from behind the door.  
  
  
"Anxiety how could you?" Roman sounded hurt.

  
  
"Yeah, you didn't have to be such a jerk!" mumbled Steven.

  
  
"I said sorry, but it wasn't my fault that you're all broke-"

  
  
"You bought the whole block, of course we're all broke!"

  
  
"Well I'm not, sucks to be you Princey"

  
  
" _Hmph_ , this is the last time I play Monopoly with you Anxiety!"

  
  
"Dude you're such a sore loser"

  
  
"Says you! Who buys two whole rows of a Monopoly board?"

  
  
"First off, I only have one and a quarter rows of the Monopoly board, Pranks has the rest and is currently the richest one among us. Plus you still have a hundred and fifty dollars stop complaining, Compliment only has five"  
  
**The Parent outside the door decided that after today, he'd burn that Monopoly board.**

**  
  
** After cleaning himself up and making himself look decent, Morality knocked on the door, deciding to greet the children and join them in their games. This was not a ruse to keep a better eye on the youngest trait, _no not at all.  
_

* * *

  
  
"It's gonna fall!"  
  
"No it won't Anxiety, stop being such a pessimist"  
  
"I **_hope_** it falls, _better?_ " Mumbled the Dark persona hoarsely. Apparently he had lost his voice somewhere after breakfast.  
  
"Ha. Ha. Nice one Hot Topic", called the Royal sarcastically, "now as I said it wont-"  
  


**The entire structure of JENGA blocks fell.**  
  
Anxiety burst out laughing, the look on the Prince's face was beyond priceless.

  
  
"You know what that means right kiddos? I win"

   
The dark personality sobered up immediately. He stared at the father, disbelief dead in his eyes.  
  
"What?! No way, how many blocks do you have? I've got 11"   
  
Dad smirked at him.  
  
"I've got 12"  
  
"Uggh, I only got 8, why did we use five packs of blocks anyway?-" Complained Roman.  
  
"It's a lot more fun when the tower is half your size”, exclaimed Steven, he had 10 blocks.  
  
Blue chirped out something and nodded happily, the blue bird was perched upon its little pile of 9 blocks.  
  
"I second that statement!" Rasped Anxiety as he began rebuilding the block tower.  
The others quickly jumped in and began helping, eager for another round.   
  
  
They all enjoyed the game and Morality had won two more times before deciding that they needed to eat some Lunch. It was nearly **2 o'clock** after all.

* * *

  
  
The Prominent was still worried about the youngest. Anxiety's voice was nearly completely gone and the scare from earlier didn't help the Parent's fraying nerves.  
  
"Kiddo? Aren't you coming? I made Spaghetti, I know how much you like pasta~"  
  
The dark persona had stayed in Steven's room, opting to clean up the mess left behind from the morning's games.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure. Just leave it out for me I'll eat when I'm finished"  
  
Dad frowned internally, he could sense twinges of apprehension subtlety rolling off the darker trait and though it blended with the youngest's aura, Morality couldn't help but feel that Anxiety was hiding something.   
  
He didn't play on it however, if he acted suspicious the dark personality would definitely shy away, so he plastered on his usual smile and _he thanked the heavens that Thomas was such a good actor._  
  
"Well then, let me help you so you can eat faster, _hmm?_ "  
  
Anxiety's eyes widened, but a small smile formed at his lips before he quickly replaced it with a neutral expression.  
  
"Sure, if you want", he shrugged.  
  
The father took the initiative and began helping the darker personality. In a comfortable silence they picked up all the Legos, organized the Monopoly money and put up the board. All that was left was the pile of JENGA blocks and soon that was neatly put away as well.  
  
Morality stood up brushing his hands off.  
"Well, all set kiddo, after we wash our hands we can go eat, ok?"  
  
" _Mhm_ ", was the non-committal answer he received as Anxiety shrugged and headed to the bathroom. Because his back was turned, the younger didn't see his worried expression or his frown.  


* * *

  
  
Once in the kitchen the Parent took out two decent sized portions of food and placed them down for the both of them before he himself sat down to eat. It was only them at the table because the others had finished their lunch and headed back into the room, while they were walking out.  
  
Anxiety stared down at the dish in front of him. His mouth watered and his stomach grumbled but yet he was hesitant. The smell and hot steam of the spaghetti soon won him over and he took a tentative bite...and then another....and another. Eventually he finished the whole thing and simply sat at the table, staring at the empty plate as if expecting something to happen.

All the while he sat there, not once did he notice the worried glances the father gave him. After about a minute or two, the anxious trait stood up, thanked the father for the meal, **_with a smile_** and went to wash his bowl in the sink. With the minor chore done he went to join the others back in Steven's room, this time for a game of UNO.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, he left a very puzzled Morality at the table.

* * *

  
  
The Father was beyond confused, there was no doubt that Anxiety's smile was real, and as shocking as that might seem the thing that unnerved him the most was when the younger started to stare at his empty plate. _What was he expecting to happen? And why did he smile when whatever it was didn't happen?  
_  
Shaking his head, the Prominent finished his food, washed his plate and joined the others in the room.  
  
It had taken him twenty minutes to realize what the dark personality was waiting for at the table.

A simple game of WAR turned disastrous. The youngest trait was holding his five remaining cards, with three of them being face cards he was bound to win and by his devious smirk everyone else knew it as well. Just as he placed his Ace above Prince's king- _he gasped.  
  
_ Anxiety bit his lip and swallowed thickly, the room went still as everyone practically saw what little color he had drain from his already pale face. At **2:00pm** on the dot, Anxiety bolted from the room in a speed that left him a mere black blur in the after images of the other's eyes.  
  
Morality was quick to follow, as was Roman.  
  
They found him hunched over the toilet in his room hurling up almost everything he had eaten. Prince grimaced at the sight of some of the noodles floating in the bowl, he wouldn't be eating spaghetti for a while and by the looks of it, neither would Anxiety.  
  
The Royal rubbed his opposite's back while simultaneously keeping the younger's bangs from his face. Dad was attempting to calm him down and ease his breathing.  
  
Princey wanted to do more to help but before he could do anything Blue popped in with a chirp.  
  
"I know, I know, but he's more important"  
  
Blue twittered sadly before perching on Anxiety's hair, rubbing it's cheek on the fringe in an attempt to offer comfort. The dark trait grunted in mild appreciation.  
  
"A meeting?" Questioned Morality.  
  
Roman winced.  
  
"No, a trial"  
  
"What?! There hasn't been a trial since-", the father shook his head, cutting himself off, "never mind, _you need to go_ "  
  
"But-"  
  
"You can't be late to something as big as this, I can handle it,  just go "  
  
"I-"  
  
" ** _Now Roman!_** "  
  
The Prince flinched, but the Prominent was right, he couldn't afford to be late, not when he needed to represent his Kingdom and honour to many emotions. His integrity and possibly even his standing as a Personality would be questioned. So with an understanding but sad and shaky nod, the Royal left with a snap of his fingers.

* * *

  
As soon as Roman left Anxiety slumped over, hoodie and shirt rising to give view of pale skin. Morality willed up a water bottle and helped the younger rinse his mouth. The Parental then ended up with a curled Anxiety on his lap. The dark trait whined and groaned in pain as his empty stomach churned into visible spasms.  
  
Wincing, Dad placed a gentle hand on the youngest's belly, with his fingers glowing a slight blue the Parent could only hope it would ease Anxiety's pain.  
  
After about ten minutes, the pain subsided into a mild throbbing. The anxious trait sighed in relief only to then groan in frustration, his stomach was grumbling as if it didn't heave up all its contents, as if it wasn't practically stabbing him seconds ago.  
  
Morality chuckled, no joy or meaning behind it, simply for the sake of the action. "Do you want me to make the custard again?"  
  
Anxiety nodded, whining slightly as phantom pains panged and burned within his stomach. Blue twittered at him sadly.  
  
"I'll be fine... it-it jus' hurts for now, tha's all"  
  
Dad took that hint, wrapped his arms under Anxiety's legs and stood up with the younger personality. He carried the pained trait to the Commons where he gently placed him down in the Pillow fort before heading to the kitchen.

* * *

  
  
Things had calmed down considerably, heck the younger’s fever had still remained thankfully low but yet the father couldn't fight the feeling of dread that bubbled at his throat. They were all in the fort with Anxiety in the middle. The dark trait was now peacefully eating his custard, while being comfortably coddled by the children as they watched a movie. The kids wanted to help make their "older brother" feel better so they had turned on Rise of the Guardians and opted to just keep him as comfortable as possible.  
  
**Morality smiled at them and he may or may not have taken a picture, _shhh_.**  
  
His smile dropped almost as quickly as it was planted on his face. To see Anxiety easily eating custard, from a pack, rather than a home cooked meal kind of stung and it brought a few thoughts to his mind. One in particular. _Was it the food?_  
  
Sighing, he left the fort. He had a hunch and thus a call to make, for once the Father hoped that Logan would disagree with him.

 

He took out his phone and dialed the Teacher's number.

* * *

  
  
**AN:// aaaay I'm baaaaack~  
By that I mean my baaaaack, yes I was in the hospital and yes I just came out of the hospital and no I didn't die or abandon this story.  
  
First off, I'd like to thank you guys for being patient and sticking with me, I came home to a ton of really nice comments and messages and I'm crying happy tears.  
  
Secondly- I have a b4 and after scenario. Let's start with the "after"  
  
STORY TIME: ok so I'm about 5'5 pretty short but I'm still taller than my cousin.  He needed to reach his Frisbee on the roof and let’s just say that things happened involving a slippery ladder and you guessed it, a 20ft fall. Now the thing is I didn't fall the full 20 ft down, instead I somehow managed to hook myself onto one the rungs and _then_ fall off the ladder. So I only fell 5ft, which is why no bones are broken _buuuuuut_ I fell flat on my back- yeah I totally did not scream like a freaking banshee, _not at all._ Anyway I've been at therapy for my spine because I legit could not move my arms or legs without pain.  
  
I can move relatively well rn? I think, I'm on a heck ton of muscle relaxers and pain killers _soo_ yeah...Anyway, that's why I was gone.   
  
  
Now it’s time for the "before" as in _before the accident_. I had mentioned to a few peeps about some not so kid friendly ideas I had and I've named it "The Side Project". Thing is, my Tumblr Senpai, Sen, _yes that's their name and it's awesome_ , had binge read Innerworks, all the chapters in one day ok,  and they commented on them- all the sweet validation you guys I got noticed lol. Anyway Sen drew a thing and I wrote a thing for that thing.  
  
~~Sen I'm sending them your way get ready for Hella spam.~~  
  
Sen's got a topnotch NSFW sandersides blog so yes the thing I wrote most definitely ain't SFW. **  
  
_So if you want to check it out here's the link: http://trashsinsunrelenting.tumblr.com/post/161886573207/tease  
_  
**And yes there will be more of these coming soon ;)  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK :   
_Brought to you by: that one hate message I woke up to at 3:00am_.  
  
"you know, people might actually like this sad story if you put more fucking action into it, no one has even kissed yet, how is this prinxiety? Click bait is for entitled pricks who want attention and all you do is ask for it"   
  
And to this particular hater I say: bro, I give you porn, take your "action" and enjoy it, you're welcome ;)  
  
NOTE: This was a part of a hate comment that I got, some of you may have seen it because I took it down late due to crappy net. (*I'm sorry to those who saw it b4 me and thankyou for defending my sorry soul, lol*)  
  
This fic is obviously a slow burn, people can't just fall in love instantly like that, especially these two considering they're polar opposites. I want to make this as "realistic" as possible you know? But like raise your hands if you can see Prinxiety moments slowly start forming, Lol.  
  
Anyway....  
  
See y'all in the comments! **


	21. The Unrelenting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eh, i'm saving it for the next chapter ;)

* * *

 

"Good Morning class"  
  
Logic walked in with a small smile, mentally he checked attendance and was pleased to find that all his students were present, _except Eliža_. While his smile still remained on the outside, the blonde girl's warning was echoing in his head. Forcing away the thought, the Secondary personality focused on his students of which he had unconsciously tuned out.   
  
"Morning!"  "Hey Teach!" "Buenos Dias Maestro!"  
  
Logan chuckled at the greetings, already back in a pleasant mindset.  
  
"Well, it seems like everyone's starting off in a good mood today, that's quite refreshing"  
  
And indeed it was, the entire class was attentive and for it being an 8:00am class, that was saying something. Giving his second cursory glance around, he spotted Luíz, Philla and Valerie sitting at the far left corner. Odd considering that they usually sat off to a side in the front, but then again they were trying to scan his aura.   
  
Rolling his eyes, he let them, since they were the only three from his 2:00pm class the Teacher knew they were worried and he appreciated their concern. So from the corner of his eye he watched and felt as the scanned his aura and in turn he scanned theirs.   
  
The children weren't as adept or in tune with aura manipulation as he was and since that came with his abilities he could easily read anyone's aura without being noticed by anyone at all. Morality of course, was the exception, the elder simply had a _knack_ for telling when he was reading someone like a book. He never understood how but he chalked it up to it being a Prominent thing.  
  
The three students seemed relieved and really he didn't blame him, there was a drastic change from how his aura felt yesterday and now. Then again, Anxiety was looking better, the kids were happy, Morality was getting enough sleep and Prince- well though there hasn't been a trial for _quite sometime_ , he highly doubted that someone was going to die.   
  
So, all good things- ** _hopefully_**.   
  
His aura was quite stable and his mood was rather decent allowing his three curious students to breathe a collective sigh of relief.  
  
"Alright, since I have all of your attention, let's continue were we left off and then jump right into the Veiwer ranking system. Mr. Torres can you quickly describe the colors of your groupmates' auras and can you please stand at the front?"  
  
Luíz gave him an excited nod and went to stand up front.  
  
"Good, I'd like to ask the rest of the partials to stand up front behind him"  
  
Four other students stood up.  
  
"Alright, you may begin Mr. Torres, after your done I'll explain why all five of you are up there, you may proceed"  
  
"O-ok, ah, Philla su aura es _Rosa_ - **Pink** es bright pink", Luíz blushed, even though his slip up was noticed, he was given looks of encouragement by the class so he continued with a grateful smile. "Para mi Prima, su aura es Aquamarine y finalmente la aura de Eliža es-"  
  
Logic stopped him with a hand, he had a hunch that this was the reason the girl wasn't here. If she truly was a manifestor like he thought, then she likely had reason for hiding her identity, though he wasn't certain what reason that would be.  
  
"Since Ms. Lori is absent, let's simply skip her aura analyzation and continue with the actual topic. Thank you very much Mr. Torres"  
  
The class gave the young Latino a round of applause.  
  
"Alright, now before we begin there's one key fact that you all need to know, Viewers and Manifestors have a different system of hierarchy while the Partials, of course, are in between. Viewers have ranks, Manifestors have types and Partials have class-"  
  
"Well of course we do teach, we're the classiest", an African American boy snapped his fingers sassily in the classic left-right-left motion.  
  
The class laughed and Logan rolled his eyes amused. "Yes, thank you for that insight Jerome-"  
  
"You're very welcome teach", the boy clicked his tongue and gestured with finger guns. Mika then high five him.  
  
The Teacher gave her an inquisitive look but the Asian girl just giggled.

 

"As I was saying, though there are three different hierarchies, they follow the same principle. There are five 'levels' of each. 1 being the highest and 5 being the lowest. Both 1 and 5 from either of the three are extremely rare"  
  
"Why?" Asked a student from the middle row.  
  
"Good question Peter, Fives are rare simply because they are variant, they hardly ever stay as fives and tend to become Fours and Threes at best. Ones on the other hand are rare because they-well they're Ones. No one really knows why so few of them exist especially in regards to the manifestors-"  
  
"My Pop says there was a war that wiped them all out!"  
  
"That is one of the theories Aaron-"  
  
"My aunt told me that they had too many personalities and some turned and killed their host"  
  
**_One of those_** , thought Logan morbidly, he swallowed thickly. Just imagining any of his fellow personalities becoming a dark creature and attacking Thomas was sickening. The Secondary bit his tongue to distract himself from his ever darkening mindset, he had a class to teach.  
  
"That could be a possibility Sandra but there's not much proof stating as such so it stays as a speculation"  
  
The class began mumbling, trading back and forth the theories they had heard.  
  
"Settle down class, I know you're wondering why I called the partials up here and the reason for that is fairly simple. It's rather easy to find the Class of a Partial Manifestor, all you need to know is the number of Partial manifestations they have.   
  
The students quieted down quickly, each seeming interested in their five classmates at the front.  
  
"Now if you can tell me how many they have, then you'd be able to tell exactly what rank of Veiwer you are. Remember to find your rank you need to know the colour and the brightness of your aura as well as what you are able to 'view' so to speak"  
  
A girl from the back row raised her hand.  
  
"If we were supposed to view their Manifestations, why did they have to view our auras?"  
  
Jamal, a partial, answered the question. "Because we can see your auras faster and clearer than you can, so it moves the topic along quicker"  
  
Logan gave a an inclined nod to the Lebanese boy, "Mr. Ahmad is correct, the faster we finish your ranks the faster we'll be able to identify the hierarchy of the Manifestors and their Manifestations, partial or otherwise. You would learn how to tell which Personality is a Prominent, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary etcetera."  
  
"Isn't the Prominent personality just the oldest one?" Asked another student.   
  
"Yes, but how would you be able to tell if that particular manifestation was the eldest, Hmm?"  
  
  
**No one answered.** _Well no one knew how to answer._

 

 Logic smirked.

 

"Exactly as I thought, now let's find all your ranks so we can quickly get to the Partials and then the Manifestors, shall we?"  


* * *

  
  
Prince grimaced internally, he really did not want to be here. He worried about Anxiety but he could not-nay _would not_ show it, especially with the "Royal press police" parading around.  
  
He had made it to the conference room in record time, appearing in front of his throne a mere second before the trumpets sounded. Prince Leo, who was right next to him, didn't even flinch when he suddenly popped up, instead he offered the younger Royal a smile to which Roman had gladly returned.  
  
Princesses Valerie and Gina were off to the side with Prince Dominic. All the Princes and Princesses of the main Kingdoms were present, as were their advisors. Only they were situated upon the stage, the Advisors on the Left and Crowned Royals on the Right with Roman and Leo being the exception as they were in the middle and thus the forefront.  
  
This slight 'V' formation allowed every person on stage to be seen and heard if need be. Plus it allowed them to converse with each other in hushed tones, something they all greatly appreciated.  
  
The set up was rather interesting when in comparison to the usual Straight line formation but Roman found that he preferred it far more than the original and reminded himself to thank his decorators and planners for their unique and pleasant style.

 

 

The Trumpets sounded once more and everyone rose to their feet. Geoffrey came in with a scroll. Plucking out reading glasses from his blue tunic pocket, he cleared his throat and began to read aloud. Princey tried hard listen to his Vassal, but he ended up listening to the other Royals behind him. All his friends were worried about his wellbeing. According to them, he looked far more pale and exhausted than normal. He did his best to assure them that he was fine, _not that they'd believe him away.  
_  
**_"!"_**  
  
He blinked a bit as if he had forgotten himself and for a moment, a sudden bout of dizziness overtook him but it passed rather quickly. The Tertiary personality wondered if it was an effect of the rapid teleportation from out of Anxiety's room.  
  
When he regained his senses, he found that he was still standing at attention with everyone else. However, Geoffrey was no longer reading, now he had to listen as a young scribe gave a brief history of the Kingdoms. The scribe spoke of the war, how the Kingdoms came to be and how the last trial was carried out. While young boy spoke, Roman found himself tuning out the speech and flashing back to the days before there were Kingdoms and where he was not yet a personality.  
  
  
A Powerful Dragon Witch had once ruled over the Imagination Kingdom, trapping and enslaving anyone who wasn't a Witch, Dragon or fellow Dragon Witch. All those who were able to work were forced to. From young teens to fully grown men were working their labour hours from Dusk till Dawn.  
  
Those who weren't able to work, the pregnant emotions, children, and the elderly, were placed in what could only be called a 'Pen'. Witches and Dragons would watch over the Pens like hawks, no one that was able to work was allowed in or even next to them, meaning that Lovers, Parents and Children were often separated.  
  
It was a sad life back then but it was all Roman knew. The first thing he could recall from the day he was formed was darkness but as soon as he woke he was grabbed by a Witch and thrown into a cell where everything turned black once more.  


* * *

  
  
"What is your name emotion?!"  
  
He could only groan, his whole body felt heavy, cold and numb.  
  
"Give it a moment, it was just formed"  
  
"I don't care if was just formed, it's eligible to work and I'm the only one without a slave, you got two yesterday!"  
  
The other Witch grabbed his hair and lifted him by it.  
  
"Yes, they're pale little things-"  
  
"Better than Grizale's two, they're the colour of our fallen kin, she says they have some sort of magic in their skin but they seem to be hardy workers, more so than the pale ones"  
  
One of the Witches kicked the bars of the cell, metal sending a sending a ringing in his ear.  
  
"I asked you a question emotion, speak when spoken to, what is your name?"  
  
He groaned, eyes half open and head pounding, he groaned once more. He was on the verge of losing consciousness again.  
  
"My-my name?...It-it's  Roman", panted out the newly formed emotion, his eyes threatened to roll back once or twice.  
  
"Oh, and what are you?"  
  
"What...what am I?" His brows furrowed in either confusion or concentration, the difference wasn't apparent. "I'm...Creativity"  
  
"Have you any abilities?"  
  
"Abilities? Wha? What are those?"  
  
The Witches smirked.  
  
"That's nothing you need to concern yourself with, for the time being, **_sleep~_** "  
  
Try as he might, Creativity couldn't keep his eyes open and he easily succumbed to the Witch's spell, eyes rolling back and body slumping unconscious.  


* * *

  
  
"Wake up slave!"  
"I said wake up!"  
  
"Relax Meigla, it was just formed yesterday and you put a strong spell on it-"  
  
"Don't tell me to relax Terzei! Grizale is coming with her two and you've got yours outside the door and mine won't **WAKE UP!** "  
  
"Oh would you shut it little sister? It will wake soon, give it time"  
  
"Time?! We don't have time, she'll be coming soon and I can't have a defective slave!  
  
"It's not defective, well I don't think it is, my two didn't wake till the second afternoon of their capture"  
  
"Fine, I'll give it a few more minutes"

 

"Good, just so you know big sis is also bringing Xavaies and her slaves too", muttered Terzei as she picked at her nails disinterestedly.  
  
"What?!" Screeched Meigla, "she's bringing Xavaies, Why?!"  
  
"The Queen said so and you know the kiss up always follows mother’s orders"  
  
The youngest Witch sister huffed before gesturing to the prone emotion on the cell floor. "Fine, but I'm waking it now, those two love to pop in early"  
  
She kicked the metal bars.  
  
" _Mngh_ "  
  
"Wake, slave, I haven't the time for your recovery- I said wake and stand, now!"  
  
Before Roman could even begin to understand what had happened, a strong force took hold of him and he was pulled into a standing position. Waves of dizziness crashed down on him and he barely managed to hold on to the metal bars of the cell.  
  
"Now that you're up, let me introduce you, I am your Mistress Meigla, you are my slave and you will follow ever order I give you or you will be punished, understood?"  
  
He could only nod.  
  
"This is my elder sister Terzei and if she gives you an order you must also follow it, she has her own slaves but you must get along with them, or else-"  
  
"And I am the eldest sister Grizale" ever one looked at her as she strutted into the room and stood next to her sisters. She then pointed to the door behind her, "This is the most esteemed Xavaies, the Queen's right hand"  
  
It was now that Roman truly realized that the younger three Witches couldn't be anything less than siblings. They had the same green skin, the same black eyes and the same long, thick warty noses. Their only true differences were their heights, attitudes and different degrees of brownish hair, heck even their pointed hats looked similar. The Queen's right hand was obviously not related to them, as she bore absolutely no resemblance to the other three whatsoever. Xavaies had auburn hair and as old, blue and wrinkly. To anyone on the first glance she'd look weak but Creativity knew better, she had a power in her red eyes that downright terrified him.   
  
The Blue Witch clapped her hands twice and instantly eight emotions filed into the room. Four went to stand behind Xavaies, two behind Grizale and two behind Terzei.  
The Queen's right hand then snapped her fingers and Roman found his cell door opening, with quick understanding and fear of the red-eyed Witch he moved behind Meigla.   
  
Xavaies gave him a nod of approval but that didn't slow his terrified heart from practically beating out of his chest.  
  
"Good", spoke the Blue Witch, "now that we're all here I advise you slaves to get to know each other, you'll be meeting more often than not and I will not tolerate any petty fighting among roaches understood?"  
  
Instantly the four behind her dropped to their knees in a bow. The other slaves took the hint and dropped down as well.  
  
"Excellent, it seems that bringing my own slaves was a good idea after all, their influence brings these new ones into control quit... _easily_ ", her pause caused the three sisters to look at her curiously.   
  
The Blue Witch's brows furrowed, "Stand!", she commanded and they all did, her voice sending shivers down their spines. She then walked in front of Grizale's slaves all the way down to Roman. "You are all only days old", her facial features moulded into an impressed expression for only the briefest of seconds.   
  
She turned to the sisters, "your mother may not be too happy with you for this, there are regulations you know". With a roll of her eyes she refocused her attention back into the slaves.

 

"Come along", she huffed, as she walked outside into another room, but only the slaves followed behind. The new room was filled with clothes and accessories.  
  
"Here, quickly dress yourselves, we have an appearance with the queen to make and we can't have you rats embarrassing us"  
  
The slaves quickly got dressed with whatever could fit them having no shame or no time for it, they stripped of the "rags" they were formed with and donned the new ones. Once they were finished, Xavaies looked them over.   
  
"Good this looks decent enough, now we must have the Queen assess you"  
  
They followed her to the Queen's throne room and once there they were set in line behind the three sisters. When each slave was in their respective positions behind their Mistress the assessment began.  
  
The Dragon Witch Queen looked them over, if her large green draconic body accompanied by her sharp fags and dark wings didn’t scare them, then it was her orange slitted pupils gazing into their souls that sent shivers down their spines. She sat high upon her golden throne atop long golden stairs as she read the auras of the slaves below her.

"They all seem decent but their auras are rather unstable, how old are they?"  
  
The eldest daughter spoke first. "Mine are three days old mother", Grizale received a grunt in return.  
  
The second daughter was next. "Mine are two days old your majesty", the queen gave Terzei a nod.  
  
And then of course was the youngest daughter. "Mine came to be yesterday-"  
  
The Queen's reptilian eye widened, "He was formed a day ago? And yet he stands, _hmm_ , interesting. I see you found a strong one Meigla, all of you have. A mere days old and standing before me, I can respect that, well done my daughters, you best put these to good use"  
  
The sisters beamed at their mothers praise, bowing in respect and giggling under their breath.  
  
"Xavaies"  
  
"Yes, Mistress?"  
  
"You've gotten some new slaves have you not? How old are they?"  
  
"Exactly a week and four days Mistress"  
  
"Good, I see you actually follow proper procedures"  
  
The three sisters stopped giggling instantly. All slaves were to be woken a week after they were formed. It was extremely rare for an emotion to function at all if woken too early. But they had figured if they woke them and they didn't instantly fade then they be strong enough to be good slaves. While that seemed to work the possibility of the emotion collapsing was highly probable.  
  
"Take your slaves back to **The Room** , they are only but days old and I'd rather not have to pick one up if it collapses.  
  
"Yes mother", exclaimed the three sisters in unison but before they could leave the Blue Witch cut them off.  
  
"I'll take them Mistress", announced Xavaies, "you have much to talk with your daughters about"  
  
The Queen gave her a nod, "Very well Xavaies, you may take them but hurry back-"  
  


_"Y-your Majesty? Wh-what about m-me?"_

  
  
Everyone paused, the voice- voices came from behind the Queen's throne.  
  
"Come out here, I had almost forgotten about you"

A dark skinned slave slowly slinked out from their hiding spot.  


  
"Mother who is this?" Questioned Grizale.  
  
"This is a slave with an ability but it's ability is so stupid that I am actually considering letting it live, so who wants it?", she drawled as she pushed the dark emotion with her tail. The forced cause the poor slave to fall and if it hadn't been for Roman the emotion would have met its untimely end at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
The Dragon Witch Queen then called on her youngest daughter.  
  
"You only have one slave and it seems to have taken a liking to this... _thing_ , do you want another?"  
  
"Yes mother, I'll take it if only for you"  
  
"Such a wonderful daughter you are, it is then settled, **_the thing_** , belongs to you, now each of my daughters has two slaves, excellent. Xavaies, you may take them now"  
  
The old Witch gave a nod.  
  
"Good now let us begin", the Queen's voice boomed as she spoke with her daughters.  


* * *

  
  
The Blue Witch had escorted all the slaves back into the room that Roman was held in.   
  
"Stay here and make nice, any tomfoolery and you will be incinerated by the guard dragons outside your door understood?"  
  
All the slaves gave an affirmative nod and Xavaies left.  
  
Roman sagged and dropped not a moment after with a non-too kind thump, leaning back on his barred cell he felt extremely exhausted and dizzy.

 

"Are you alright?" Asked one of the pale girls, "were you really just formed yesterday?"  
  
Creativity nodded and rasped out a "yes"  
  
  
"Your Mistress is extremely cruel, a day is not nearly enough-", mumbled a boy, he was a darker skinned slave.  
  
"Enough for what?"  
  
"For information, do you know your name and what you are?" The same emotion asked again, worry evident in his dark eyes.  
  
"My name is Roman, I'm Creativity"  
  
"Good, you know that at least, do you know who our Master, who our Host is?"  
  
Roman furrowed his brows, "Master? Host?"   
A name suddenly found its way into his mind, "is it Thomas?"

  
  
**Everyone sighed in relief.**

  
  
"My name is Leonidas and this is Deliahs", he gestured to the girl next to him, "we're Grizale's slaves"  
  
"I'm Valeria and this is Ginala", it was Valeria who had spoken to him first, "we're Terzei's slaves"  
  
"I'm Benjamin and these are Farihas, Alexis and Dominicus, we're Mistress Xavaies' slaves"  
  
"Well since everyone is giving introductions, I might as well do mine, I'm Jay/Jo"

Everyone turned to the newest addition, this emotion switched from a female to male appearance and back again, they spoke as if they had expected everyone else to be disgusted or disturbed but was gladly surprised when the other slaves gave them a smile.  


* * *

  
  
It was that very day that the Witches made their biggest mistake, those same ten slaves were their down fall. They had become an unshakable group of friends and in just a year later they became the rulers of the Kingdoms.  
  
They had banded together and through late night escapes, weapon finding, training and Dragons hunting, they defeated the tyrant Queen.  
  
All those who killed a Royal Witch and their Dragon servants became a Prince or Princess, but the ones who helped behind the scenes were their Royal advisors. Except of course for Roman, he didn't kill a Witch, he killed **_the Dragon Witch Queen_** and set the entire Kingdom free. It was also on that very day that he had become a personality.  
  
The now free people wanted to crown him king but he denied saying it was best he share the Kingdom into _Kingdoms_ allowing each one of his friends to rule alongside him. New rules were created for him by the Royal council as he was now a Prince and a Personality.   
  
Patton and Logan had come to his coronation, as a matter of fact they were going to be coronated too. The Prominent and Secondary Personalities had lead their own resistance, freeing all those who were trapped in the "Pens" and lower ranks of the Kingdom. Patton's resistance force had teamed up with Roman's and their Victory was legendary.   
  
Seeing as how the new Prince did not want to be King the people had tried giving the crown to Patton and when the Prominent refused it was passed to Logan and of course the Secondary refused aswell. Since three refusals were just too much for the people, it was decided that there would only be a King if Roman married or if any of the Personalities choose to take up the title. The same rule then applied for all the other Princes and Princesses of the new Kingdoms.  
  
The Royal Council called it foolish but they could not go against the wishes of the people. Intriguing enough no one really like the Royal council but since it was comprised of the only seven slaves that worked for the Witches in their Royal affairs, their experience was better than nothing so everyone simply tolerated them.  
  
Logan had given them the nickname the "Royal press police" and it had stuck ever since but no one dared say that to them out loud. They were present for any and affairs pertaining the Kingdoms that meant trials especially. The last trial that was held was the Decapitation of the emotion Nostalgia by orders of the Dragon Witch Queen.   
  
Nostalgia had been the Original leader of Patton's resistance force and was captured for saving a child. It was a most brutal death but it spurred the resistance's efforts all the more. Roman had only been a slave for a week when he and the others witnessed the resistance leader's demise. Truth be told it spurred his group too-  


  
**Trumpets suddenly blared almost causing him to jump, _almost_.  
  
**

Princey blinked out of his memories, just in time to join everyone else as they sat down and the trial officially began.  
  
"Men!" Called Geoffrey and two of Roman's Personal Royal Guards brought forth Ericsson to kneel at the front. The Steward had his arms behind his back as his hands were chained together.

  
  
**Many booed and cursed him.**  


  
Prince looked scanned the surrounding emotions, quick careful glances to make sure that no one was going to try something malicious. It was then, for the first time in the day, that the Regal personality had noticed Fairy godmother's presence. The Fae locked eyes with him for a brief second before frowning, causing him to frown as well.  
  
It was when she tilted her head to the right and he saw Prince Leo and the others tense up, that Roman realized why.  
  
_The glint of a silver blade could be seen._

 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety winced, moving a hand to cover his eyes from the bright silver light that had decided to assault him. It was just the light reflecting of the TV but it was annoying him. Not having the ability to bend light at his will the dark trait opted to simply lie down, the couch pillows were _very comfortable_ and it was far better than going blind.  
  
He couldn't tell who but one of the children removed the empty bowl that once was custard from him. He couldn't even remember when they changed the movie or what movie was now playing. Everything looked beyond blurry and words sounded like they were coming from underwater- _these couch pillows were really comfortable._  
  
**He blinked.**  
  
Squirt threw her favorite yellow blanket over him.   
  
**He blinked twice.  
**  
He was now lying in her lap with his legs over her brother's. She was now playing in his hair.  
  
**He blinked again.  
**  
Steven, Pranks and Misleading Compliment were taking down the fort.  
  
**He blinked once more.  
**  
Now all the children were on the couch and he was practically sprawled across their legs.  
  
**_He was extremely confused-_**  
  
"Hey"  
  
" _Hmm?_ " Mumbled Anxiety, his voice was laced with pure exhaustion, which surprisingly, he didn't feel up until now. The anxious personality looked up at Morality's daughter, his blurry vision barely allowing him to see her worried expression.  
  
"Sleep~"   
  
It was all she said but Anxiety found himself listening as his eye-lids became heavy as they started to slip closed and his breathing slowly became even.  
  
**_He was out like a light.  
_**

 

* * *

  
_The sword glinted as it rushed down the crowd of people.  
_  
"This for Master Thomas!" Shouted the random emotion as he swung his sword preparing to cleave Ericsson's head off with one fell swoop.  
  
_'CLANG'  
_  
Metal met Metal.  
  
Everyone gasped as Charles suddenly appeared and parried the blade of a sword with _only_ a dagger.  
  
Roman snapped into action immediately.  
  
"Guards!" He shouted and his men burst into the conference room and apprehended the emotion"  
  
Once that commotion was over with and the rowdy emotion was taken away Charles turned to check if the man in chains had any injuries, but when he did...  
  
"Ericsson?"  
"Charles?"  
  
"What is the meaning of this?!" Shouted one of the men of the Royal council. The pale, pudgy man was red faced as he continued, "first there is an attacker and now a guard knows the prosecuted personally? What is your name boy? Speak your affiliation or you will be put to death under the grounds of treason for aiding this sad excuse of a Steward"  
  
The blonde stood up straight and addressed the council man. "My name is Charles, I am a low rank archer in Prince Roman's Guard. I know Ericsson personally because-"  
  
"Because?" Huffed the man impatiently.  
  
  
"Because he's my brother"  
  
  
The whole room went quiet.  


* * *

 

**AN:// aaaay cliffies am I right?  
  
This chapter was split into two and will possibly split off into three so brace for that guys. I'd like to apologize for having so much new characters and leaving our main ones in the back burner but trust me you'll get understand later so just bear with me here. But on a side note: There will definitely be more of an explanation to Princey's past, I mean there has to, Anxiety still hasn't set foot in his Kingdom yet ;)  
  
~   
  
Apologies for the late update once more.   
Guess who has another story to tell:  
  
This month was absolute hell. Not gonna lie it was full of lies, pain and tears and obviously by now y'all know the latter two were mine. My back _suuuucks_.  
  
See the thing is, the Doc told me that stress and tension make the back pain worse right. Here's the reasons I was so stressed and tensed out of my ever angst loving mind. 1. Work 2. My cousin RAN AWAY and is basically disowned by the family 3. Family reunion without the runaway cousin 4. Work- I collapsed, well _almost_ collapsed at work.  
  
2\. Let's start with the fact that my idiot cousin ran away. She did it for very stupid reasons I'm not even gonna sugar coat it, the reason is beyond idiotic. She had us searching for her for a good week and a half, then when we found her, at her aunt’s house no less, she had the gall to cuss us out for making a big scenery. This 14 year old child had the gall to cuss out her worried family for searching for her stupid self. Anyway she decided to go live with her bad influence of an aunt who is like really, really just _ugh_ , she has the child in clubs in inappropriate clothes and drinking, she's 14! There was law suits and child services and a whole shit load of things involved. But now I'm down a cousin, _life_.  
  
3\. My other cousin just graduated high school so the whole fam came to support him and I was basically the waitress for his grad party, that was "fun". Oh and my grandmother was there so I had to deal with her spanking my hand, (I'm left handed forced right because of her, so now I'm ambidextrous) because "that hand is for the devil".  
  
Not on the list but I also had an anxiety attack like on Thursday because of a prank my dad played on me, that apparently messed up my back, _so yeah_. To all those who sent messages of support, thanks.  
  
4\. Everyone with a uterus knows how freaking painful cramps are. Well let's just say that a mini contraction plus back pain and also a lack of breakfast equals face meeting the floor or almost if there's not a chair or desk you could grab on to. So yeah, guess who didn't go to work today or yesterday?  
  
Anyway this month was...hell so idk. But it wasn't all that bad, I got some peeps joining us from the YouTube comment section of the first part of "Accepting Anxiety" Innerworks was shouted out! Y'all made my day, I was just so happy, in pain but happy thank you all for your support, it really means alot.  
  
I'll try to get updates out as early as I can but rn my fam wants to go everywhere and is not giving my introvert self a break to type my fanfiction in piece. They want to stay together for fear of idiot cousin's runaway being repeated again. So currently I'm dealing with evil grandma, lots of little children that are somehow related to me and zero to no time to myself.   
  
So please be patient with my soul, but still message me about update days or questions or whatever, just hit me up man, the notification sounds bother grandma and if I suffer so shall she ;)  
  
Anyway   
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK: (should be comment of the month but whateves lol ~~hahaha I'm in pain~~ )  
  
BY: Desaster_Dean  
  
"Seriously I love the story especially because it goes slow with that kind of things and focuses more on the main story line than the relationships. Did Ron and Hermione get together in the first book? No! Most story's that go to fast with that are unrealistic and kind of suck so.... carry on! Cause however you're doing it it’s amazing. And take your time. I'd rather enjoy a well written story in slow updates than a crappy one every day"   
  
Thanks you guys.  
  
See y'all in the comments ;)   
  
(No but for real spam me with notifications my left hand is bruised) **


	22. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes being a teacher can be rewarding

 

"The Viewer Ranking system is complete and I am quite pleased with the results!"

  
Logan's voice resounded within the classroom, the anticipation brought a certain light to each one of the students' eyes. He held up the papers he had given to the class earlier and began returning the _now checked_ papers.   
  
All of the Viewers were to write down their names, ages, colors of aura and the number of Partial manifestations they saw, once done they were to hand it to him individually. The Ranks were rather easy to tell this way and after checking and marking the papers, Logic smoothly jotted down the names and their appropriate numbers on his own piece.  
  
"Of course I will not state your ranks, but you are free to do so yourselves", he then started reading from the sole paper in his hand. "In total we have six students that are Fours, five students that are Threes, four students that are Twos and most surprisingly, two students that are Ones"   
  
The Teacher shot a quick peripheral glance at Valerie and Philla, both girls somehow managed to catch the small movement and giggled quietly to each other.  
  
"I am very happy to have a class as diverse as this-"  
  
"Yeah Teach, we got different races, ages, sexes, we definitely got different sexualities in here too! Different Ranks of Viewers and I'm willing to bet that we got different Classes of Partials. You can't get any more diverse"  
  
Logic smiled, "Well said Jerome"  
  
The class chittered happily, students eagerly discussing their Ranks and trying to guess which two of their classmates were the _ever-rare_ Ones.

 

* * *

  
  
**The Conference room was tense.  
**  
No one dared speak, all eyes and ears were focused on the Archer, the Ex-Steward and the Councilman.  
  
  
"Forgive me if I misheard archer", the pudgy man started, "but you claim the prosecuted is your brother?"   
  
"Adopted-brother", hissed Ericsson.  
  
**  
A collective sigh passed through the room.  
**  
  
"A brother still the same", replied Charles.  
  
The Councilman frowned.

"If he is your brother that would mean that you hail from Prince Leonidas' Kingdom aswell, so then, pray tell, why are you in Prince Roman's Guard?"  
  
The entire room seemed to have gasped, murmurs and mumbles were thrown about. The Royals on stage were tense, two more so than the others. Upon further inspection one could see that Leonidas' hands were shaking and Roman grew pale.   
  
**Another Council man stepped in to hush the crowd, this one a much older, slimmer and intimidating fellow.  
**  
"You best explain yourself clearly boy, you've wormed your way into quite a mess, start at the beginning, nice and loud or we'll have two sentences today"  
  
The Crowd gasped again, there hadn't been a trial for so long and to have two sentences, _in one day?_ Conflicting thoughts surged about the emotions, their faces showing a mix between actually wanting to see someone die and what was likely pity for the poor fool about to die.  
  
To his credit, Charles stood his ground fearlessly and began telling his tale.  
  
  
"My father was the Duke of Second Kingdom, under Prince Leonidas' rule. He and my mother were slaves of a high rank Witch-"  
  
"Yes, just like every Lord, Lady, Duke and Duchess", sneered the wiry Council man. "Everyone knows that those enslaved under 'Royal or high ranking' Witches were given a respective status, so get on with proper story boy, I have little the time or patience to deal with stalling"  
  
The archer continued without missing a beat.  
  
"My apologies. However I was not stalling, though I suppose reciting common knowledge is unnecessary-"  
  
  
" _Very_ ", muttered the elder in a dry tone. "I have no need for a silver tongue. So cease your slithering and get to it"  
  
"Yes sir", there was not a slight bit of disrespect in the blonde's tone and the Councilman's scowling lips retreated into a thin line. He watched with piercing eyes as the younger male continued.

 

"The Witch, Kilavø, who enslaved my father had some very... ** _conflicting_** views. She detested all dark skinned slaves and she hated any form of pride in a female emotion and thus so did my father. My mother was also one of Kilavø's slaves but she bore none of their views"  
  
**The emotions in the room were quiet, all interested in the archer's tale. Many wondering if his words would possibly get him beheaded alongside his brother.  
  
** "When Kilavø was killed, my father, out of all her slaves, was chosen to be made Duke. During that time, my sister were and I were only eight and six respectively. My mother, now the Duchess, made sure that we grew up loving, appreciating and respecting any and all emotions despite my father's views, while he taught us how to fit our new roles as his heirs-"  
  
**A sudden loud boom of Thunder startled everyone in the room, making emotions gasp and cry out unconsciously in their fright.**   
  
Adding to the noise were two shrill knocks on the locked door, the guard positioned at said door, opened it slightly and leaned to peek _\- only to be comically slammed back into the wall_ \- as a flurry of maids busted in and rushed to close the decorative windows.  
  
They moved fast, pulling down panes and tying curtains, all just in time for pitter-patter of the rain to descend upon the immaculate glass. With their job, of saving the conference goers from being wet, done the young ladies gathered in a neat line in front of everyone and bowed.  
  
Roman in turn stood up from his semi-shocked position and gave them a bow aswell.  
  
"Thank you very much girls, your swift work was greatly appreciated"

 

There was many forms of 'thanks' flittering around the room. The maids smiled, nodded and left the room as quickly as they came, shutting the door on the way out and leaving the poor guard- _who was just getting back up from the floor-_ utterly dazed.  
  
Chuckling silently, the Prince sat back down once more. With the cursory hand motion he gestured to Charles and the Councilmen.  
  
"Do continue your tale, we must listen to derive an appropriate outcome after all", he had been spending _way too much time_ with Logic but for once he was glad.  
  
The Councilmen gave him a nod and the young archer bowed before straightening up and continuing once more.  
  
"We were given servants, slaves and Servants with slaves. One in particular was our new Steward Mr. Markarson, he had with him a seven year old slave boy-"  
  
"Ericsson", supplied the Councilman with and inclined nod.  
  
"Yes sir, my mother did not like that slaves were still being kept despite the war being over, but she had no right over the matter. As such Mr. Markarson and Ericsson worked as our Steward and Steward in training, at least... _until a year later that is"_  
  
  
Now everyone was interested in Charles' tale, the rain was thoroughly ignored for favour of it.  
  
  
"It was _'The day of the Clearing'_ , where a large Dragon had attacked the Kingdom and decimated a good amount of its buildings and populous. Second Kingdom was then renamed the Third as its population was dwindled to less than that of Princess Valerie's. Mr. Markarson was one of many that perished during the event, leaving Ericsson alone"  
  
"I'm guessing that your mother took pity and raised the boy like her own, did she not?"  The fat Councilman spoke this time, his voice still stern but his tone was not as condescending as it was before.  
  
The archer gave a small nod to the rotund man. "My father didn't like the idea much but if there was anything, he truly loved my mother and raised Ericsson like a son-"  
  
"Among his other _two_ -", Spat the aforementioned man in chains.   
  
**Everyone was a bit surprised when Charles turned and gave him a glare.  
  
** "Alright, you explained how you two are related, _and I use that term loosel_ y", muttered the thin Councilman, "but you did not explain how either of you got to this Kingdom in the first place"  
  
The blonde turned back to face the Councilman with a neutral expression.  
  
"My mother died-", there were gasps and small murmurs of pity murmured throughout the room, "-of sickness when I was nine. None of us know what it was but before she left us she made sure to instruct my father to raise us as she would and not to let his grief consume him"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure they wanted to hear this Charles", mocked Ericsson. "The Oldman raised us as siblings, _how sweet_ but they didn't ask for this story, they asked for the other", the convicted emotion was sneering now and all eyes were on him and his rattling chains. "So tell them brother, how father abandoned _all three of his sons_ -"  
  
**The archer practically growled.  
**  
"Stop it Ericsson!"  
  
"I will not stop! He was going to give me his title but you- **_you took that from me_** , you didn't even want it"  
  
"The birthright was not yours-"  
  
"And neither was it yours, but we all know what a disgrace our _older brother_ is-"  
  
"Stop that this instant Ericsson!"  
  
"No! You know why father refused to give _him_ -"  
  
" ** _Her_** god-dammit! **_mis-gender Rose one more time_ -**"  
  
"I never understood why he would pick that name-"  
  
**"Stop it"  
**  
"Oh please, Father didn't like women in power and I agree but since Rose wanted to be a woman the title went to you, the only one of us who could care less about it. I was the one who always surpassed his expectations and yet I was never enough. To make matters worse, as soon as you got the title he goes and offs himself, leaving me with nothing"  
  
**"Ericsson!-"**

 

  
"It's not my fault that his sons were a waste, the youngest was foolish and the eldest was a disgrace. It's not my fault that _he_ wanted to be a woman, maybe that's one of the reasons father killed himself. We should call Rose and tell him it's his faul-"  
**  
"That's enough _Viceous!_ "**  
  
The emotions in the room froze, all sat with baited breath as the dagger Charles had first used to defend his adopted brother, was now pointed at the chained man's neck.   
  
**You could hear a pin drop in the sudden silence, all in the room collectively having one question in mind. _Would the Archer would kill the Ex-Steward?_** _  
_  
Ericsson trembled, whether it was from anger or fear, none could tell.  
  
"Sure, use my last name against me, you always did this when you couldn't have your way-"  
  
"No, I only called you by your last name when you stepped out of line and you oh so happily decided to stomp on it. How dare you say such things about Rose, she's our older sister!"  
  
" _Not mine_ ", growled Ericsson lowly, pressing his neck against the blade defiantly, "go ahead, do it I have nothing to lose but make sure that after you do, you kill yourself aswell, you're hardly worth more than a strand of your hair"  
  
"Trust me I would brother but I believe our dear sister would be distressed, enough so to figure out how to revive us only to kill us herself. I don't know about you but I'd rather not have her wrath upon me"   
  
With that Charles turned, removing the blade from his brothers neck and carrying it towards the Councilmen. He flipped the dagger around, the bladed end now facing him while the handle was pointed at the wiry man's chest. The Councilman, though shocked, quickly removed the weapon from the blonde, as if fearing another outburst.  
  
"Tch, you always were a coward", hissed Ericsson.   
  
"At least I'm not in chains", muttered the Archer coldly. He almost looked guilty when the Ex-Steward flinched but he turned his attention back to the Council members, all eleven of them were staring him down.

 

* * *

 

The Viewers in the class were quite giddy, now knowing their Ranks, they were eager to find which Classes their Partial classmates belonged to.  
  
"I had mentioned earlier the simplest way to find what class a Partial belongs to is by the number of their manifestations. As such I will list out their names and I would like for you all to assist me in finding their numbers." With that Logan turned and wrote a small list on the board.   
  
It had two columns Class and Personality:  
  
**_Class 5: 1 partial personality only  
Class 4 : 2 partial personalities  
Class 3:  3 partial personalities  
Class 2:  4 partial personalities  
Class 1:  5+ partial personalities  
_**  
"Here I have here the standard levels for a Partial Manifestor, you will see something similar for the Manifestors themselves but of course, there's always something different. Now, quickly write this down so that we can categorize our Partials to their respective Classes shall we?"  
  
The Students gave him their happy affirmations and quickly began jotting down the notes.   
  
"Everyone done? Good, now let's start from the lowest number of Partial manifestations, who has the lowest-?"  
  
"Emily!"  
  
"Jamal!"  
  
The class seemed confused and Logic almost laughed, it seems they thought that the Partials had to fit into one of each category.  
  
"Alright it seems you have decided that these two both have the lowest amount of manifestations, now, what's their number?"  
  
"Three!"  
  
Logan gave them a nod and then wrote _Jamal Ahmad and Emily Saville_ on the board in front of the _'Class 3'_ section before addressing his students again.  
  
  
"Well done, but it seemed that having these two in the same class had confused you, bear in mind that there is no particular set and there can be more than one student in the same class, granted their number fits the class of course. Is this Understood?"  
  
Once again given the affirmative, the Teacher turned back to the board and scratched a line through _'Class 4' and 'Class 5'._  
  
"Since the lowest amount of Partial manifestations is three, these two classes not necessary. So, now who has the lowest number?"  
  
"Luíz!"  
  
"Hola!"  
  
The students laughed and even Logan had an amused smile.  
  
"Alright settle down, Mr. Torres has four Partial manifestations, which means he's a _'Class 2'_ Partial", the Secondary personality easily wrote _Luíz Torres_ on the board.   
  
A student raised her hand.  
  
"Yes, Michaela?"  
  
"I thought you said that the 'Ones' of any category were rare?'  
  
Logic smirked.  
  
"I did say that, which means Jerome and Mika are our ever rare _'Class 1'_ Partials", with that he wrote the final two names in, _Jerome Balogh and Mika Hui tan.  
_  
"Soo", started Jerome, "in total we have two in _'Class 3'_ , one in _'Class 2'_ and two in _'Class 1'_ ,  how's that for diverse teach?"  
  
The Logical personality rolled his eyes fondly at the black boy. Jerome only laughed and this time Mika high-fived _him_.

* * *

  
  
The rest of the classes flew by in a blur, things went smoothly and the transition from each class up until twelve was quite decent, enough so that during his lunch break he even managed to eat a plate of food from the Teacher's lounge, _wouldn't Patton be proud.  
_  
He walked into his 1:00pm class with a little more confidence than the previous day, _progress_.  
  
The Math class seemed to be going just as smoothly as the rest of them, of course that was until his phone rang.  
According to the time on his phone it was currently **2:10pm** \- _because of course it was, honestly he was beginning to detest this particular time-_ Morality was calling him, which meant something happened to Anxiety.  
  
He excused himself to answer the phone outside but just as he was going to step out the door, the School Principal decided that it was the perfect time to walk up and down the halls. Not one for getting caught on a phone call, Logan back tracked with wide eyes, _he'd have to answer the call in class.  
  
**"/Logan-/"  
**_  
"He threw up again didn't he?"  
  
**_"/Yes-/"  
_**  
"Is he ok?"  
  
**_"/He's doing a bit better, the kids are keeping him company/"  
_**  
"Pat-"  
  
**_"/I'm worried about him Lo-/"_**

****

"I know, hold on-the Principal's passing by again"  
  
**_"/You're still in the class?!/"_**  
  
" _Shh_!"   
  
When the coast was clear. A student gently asked what was going on, unfortunately for them Patton could hear.  
  
**_"/Tell them Lo/",_ Patton's voice echoed through the phone and into the now silence of the class.   
  
** All his students were staring at him with mixtures of confusion and concern, their auras held even more so and Logan could swear he was getting a headache from all the different fluctuating colors. Sighing he addressed the class.  
  
  
"My youngest counterpart is ill-", he was cut off by the students as they bombarded him with questions.  
  
  
_"What happened to him?"  
  
"How long has he been sick?"  
  
"Is that why you where gone for two weeks?"  
  
"Is your host ok?"  
  
_  
The Teacher raised a hand to silence them once more.  
  
"We don't know why or how he got sick, nor do we know what he has. He's been like this since Friday and every time we think he's getting better, he gets worse.  
My host seems to be doing alright for the most part but we'll see if there are any affects-"  
  
  
"Why can't you just give him medicine?"  
  
  
"Yeah", shouted a boy from the center of the room, "just pop a few Advils and drown him in some soup and you're all set"  
  
Logic shook his head, "it's not that easy Kevin, the youngest isn't exactly...a fan of medicine. Though my Prominent had put some fever reducers in his soup"  
  
"How did that work out?"  
  
"He now refuses to eat anything associated with the name soup at this point"  
  
"Wait, so what did he eat today then?" Asked another.  
  
**_"/Spaghetti/"  
_**  
Logan blinked at the phone in his hand, almost having forgotten that Patton was still on the phone.  
  
"Apparently Spaghetti-"  
  
  
Philla cut him off.  
  
"Is that your Prominent on the phone?"  
  
"Yes he is-"  
  
"Can we speak to him too?"  
  
The Teacher was very much confused by the little Indian girl's request but put his phone on speaker none the less.  
  
Patton, somehow already figuring that he could be heard aloud, decided to greet the class.  
  
**_"/Good afternoon everyone/"  
_**  
"Good afternoon!"  
  
**_"/Sorry to have interrupted your class time-"/  
_**  
"That's ok, it's math!"  
  
**Morality chuckled. _"/Yeah, I'm no good with numbers either, that's Logan's job/"_  
  
** The students laughed, prompting an eye roll from Logic. Prompting Philla to go ahead and ask her question.  
  
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is happening to your youngest? Is he doing ok right now?"  
  
**_"/He's not doing so well, he threw up a couple of minutes ago but as of right now he's trying to relax and watch some TV/"  
_**  
"Did you give him something to eat afterwards?" Asked another student.  
  
**_"/I did, I gave him a small bowl of Honey Custard/"  
_**  
"Honey Mustard?"  
  
**_"/Haha, oh goodness no, it’s called Honey Custard/"  
  
_** "What's that?"  
  
**_"/It's a type of porridge, it's yellow and honey-lemon flavoured/"  
  
_** "He didn't throw that up did he?"  
  
**_"/No that was the spaghetti, he's doing just fine with the Custard/"_**  
  
"Has he been throwing up all his other food?"  
  
**_"/He has, unfortunately/"  
  
_** Logan frowned at the phone, he wasn't aware that Anxiety had been throwing up frequently, maybe he should have a talk with the dark trait when he got home.  
  
"And you cooked everything?"  
  
**_"/Yes, everything except for the Custard, that's from a box, why?/"  
_**  
"Could it be the food?"  
  
**_"/What?/"  
_**  
"Yeah, what if he's allergic to something in the food?"   
  
**"/I was actual thinking about that/"  
**  
"Maybe it's a spice or seasoning that you use"  
  
**_"/Well I guess that's possible/"  
_**  
"Ok so what if you buy him some food? Like if he doesn't throw it all up in a week then you know for sure that it was probably something in your food-"  
  
"Yeah and when he's better, you can slowly figure out what he's allergic to!"  
**_  
"/That sounds like a really good idea, but what foods should I get?/"  
_**  
"Um, lasagna?"  
  
**_"/I don't think so, it's a good one but it might be too heavy for his stomach/"_**

"Right and canned soup won't work because he's tired of it, hmm, what about steamed veggies and some mashed potatoes?"  
  
"No that won't work, he's gotta buy things not make them-"  
  
"That's why! He can buy and steam the veggies and there is boxed mashed potatoes"  
  
**_"/Wait really? I'll need to check on that one but it sounds good, anything else?/"  
  
_** "Ooh, smoothies! Fruit smoothies should definitely work"  
  
**_"/Good idea, I'm surprised I hadn't thought of that before, anymore ideas?/"  
_**  
"Hey wait, maybe we should make a list? Like everyone puts down a food on a folder sheet and passes it around, you get at least thirty different ones-"  
  
"Yeah, we should do that"  
  
**_"/Oh, you're all so sweet, that's a wonderful idea, thank you!/"  
  
_** "Alright, we're making a list you guys!"  
  
"Cool, I'll start", one of the students whipped out a folder sheet and wrote something down before passing it to their classmate, "ok, Tamika's got it, pass it down when you’re finished!"  
  
The paper went slowly around the class and Logan could do no more than watch. Removing his phone from speaker mode, he decided to confront the father.  
  
"Pat, what did you do to my class?"  
  
The Parental trait simply laughed.  
**_  
"/I didn't do anything, you just have amazing students/"_**  
  
The sound of the folder sheet being passed around echoed in the background and Logan smiled, "that I do, Patton that I do. Now go check on the others"  
  
**_"/Will do teach!/"  
_**  
The Secondary personality then ended the call.  
  
By the time the bell rang, a list was compiled and the math class had ended without solving the rest of the equations on the board. Sighing Logan asked the students to take a picture of the questions and to do them for homework.  
  
With the last sound of a phone's camera shutter and the footfalls of the last student leaving, the Logical personality erased the board, brushed his hands together and left for his other class.  


* * *

 

  
  
His English class was... _interesting_.  
  
The moment he walked in he was greeted by Estah who handed him a sheet of paper, on it was a complete list of various foods.  
  
At what must have been his _very_ befuddled face, the young black girl smirked.  
  
"Our classes are fifteen minutes apart, think we wouldn't have time to make you a list?"  
  
"I... _wha_ -?"  
  
"We know some people in your math class, they told us about your youngest so we made a list too." She then jutted out her thumb, gesturing to the students behind her, "there's another one being circled around in there somewhere"   
  
Logan could do no more than smile appreciatively, sometimes his students amazed him. Deciding that since they wanted to help him, it would only be fair if he'd help them as well, all the students had to do for class was write about a time they were sick and their recovery process.  
  
**An easy grade for a simple story.**

 

 

* * *

  
  
Staring down the eleven council members had to be one of the most terrifying things Charles had ever done and he faced a ten ton fire breathing Dragon _just the other day!_   
**  
One of the Council members moved and the blonde took a small step back.**  
  
"I see that you have another story to tell little archer", a new voice entered the fray, it was a woman. In fact she was the only woman on the council. Removing the cloak that previously kept her ambiguous, she stood up, tall and fearsome.  
  
"Madam Zenma!" Exclaimed the fat Councilman, "You need not busy yourself with the likes of him my lady"  
  
The woman flashed him a dark look, the robust Councilman went quiet, _real quick_. She then focused her steely gaze onto Charles.  
  
"I am Zenma, leader and Head of Council. I have little time to waste with family squabbles so you best get on with it boy or you'd soon be joining your brother"  
  
The blonde gaped for a second before remembering himself. He gave a bow, seemingly entranced with the pure authority radiating off the woman.  
  
A scowl decorated her dark face as she crossed her arms, an action that caused her mid-length white curls to bounce. The Head Councillor fixed him a look, her green eyes striking fear as they locked with his.  
  
"M-my lady if it's not too much trouble or an offense, may I ask your story?"  
  
The room that was ever quiet seemed to grow even more so. The Head Councillor was quite intimidating.  
  
Zenma scoffed, eyes still locked with the archer's.  
  
"My story? Very well, I'll make it short and simple, maybe this will help you follow by example", Charles gave her a surprisingly timid nod and her gaze seemed to lessen, albeit slightly, in intensity. "I was the Dragon Queen's personal slave for thirty years of my life. The Queen considered black slaves hardier than those who were white and among all of the others, I was considered her most prized because of my white hair"  
  
Almost as if they were in a trance, all the emotions in the room suddenly marvelled at the white curls and the woman in the suit that they belonged to.  
  
"I was to serve and to follow that beast everywhere she went. During that time I learned everything there was to learn of Royal affairs, hence the reason I am Head of the Royal Council. That and I was also there when Prince Roman defeated and killed her, isn't that right your highness?"  
  
**Roman gave her an inclined nod but said nothing.  
  
** "There it is archer, my story, now do follow the example and tell yours just as quick. I'm sure some of these folks would like to get the trial done and over with"  
  
Murmurs of agreement began to fill the room and Charles gave a small bow to the Head of Council, an action of respect.  
  
"After my father gave me the title of Duke, Ericsson parted ways and me and my sister remained. We found out that my father had been treating the slaves and servants, among others, terribly. They were abused and yet they told us nothing, either terrified of my father or they didn't want to harm the way children saw their Parent. We freed the slaves and only the servants who wanted to remain at the estate, did. Strangely enough, all but five stayed and when I asked them where they were going they mentioned the 'Out Balance'. It wasn't the answer I expected but I understood their interest in the cause"  
  
Majority of the high class emotions gasped but many others were confused, luckily for them Charles noticed and explained it inconspicuously blasé.  
  
"Of course the 'Out Balance' was where Guards from the main Kingdom were sent to Kingdom three and untitled members of Third Kingdom were allowed to train to become guards in the main Kingdom. My sister told me to take the opportunity to start over, so I did. I signed the papers and gave Rose her birthright so now she is one of the Duchesses of Third Kingdom, a title she was truly destined for. Without a title I was permitted as a new main Kingdom resident and I began my training the day I came in."  
  
"And now you are an Archer in the Royal Guard?" Questioned Zenma, her eyebrow was elegantly quirked.    
  
"Yes ma'am-"  
  
"Then _how_ did Ericsson get here?"

 

"I'm not sure... I wasn't even aware he was in the main Kingdom, hence the reason I was surprised at seeing him"  
  
Everyone fixed there attention to the former Steward.  
  
Ericsson huffed, "Why does it matter? I am already on death row. Besides I have nothing to say, especially to a coal coloured wench"  
  
**Zenma scowled, Charles frowned and the whole room began throwing insults at the Ex-Steward.**  
  
"Very well", sighed Roman, silencing all as he stood up straight faced. His aura was rolling smoothly and powerfully over the room. "I have grown tired of your disgusting comments and attitude, you've had your chance to speak. Guards bring the executioner!"  
  
The Guards came in, their arrival made clear with the opening of the large ornate door, and with them was the Executioner... _and their axe._  
  
**Ericsson's eyes widened.  
**

* * *

  
  
The Phone call with Logan's students had calmed his nerves somewhat, _honestly that bunch of kids were absolutely wonderful-  
_  
"Dad!"  
  
Morality snapped out of his thoughts and began walking back into the commons, that was his daughter calling and she didn't sound too happy.  
  
"Yes Fiona, what is it-?" The father stopped cold. All his children were on the couch and his eldest was lain gently atop them with blankets smothering him galore, a sight that would have been cute if Anxiety wasn't visibly shivering.  
  
"He won't wake up and he keeps shivering but-", Fiona frowned as she was then cut off by her frantic sounding brother.  
  
"We tried everything to help him stop but he hasn't...he-he just won’t-!"  
  
With his Paternal instincts on overdrive Patton instantly tried to calm his son, least he cause the others to panic aswell.  
  
"It-It's ok Liam", he watched as the boy sniffled and a few fat tears rolled down his small cheeks. "It's probably just the fever-"  
**  
That's when it happened.  
**  
Almost simultaneously, the five children looked at him with the saddest most tear-filled eyes he had ever seen. It cut the words right out his throat and the father could swear his heart was going to stop. _Steven was the one who said it_ , the words and its meaning seeping into his very core and for a second the Prominent swore it actually did.  
  
**_"There is no fever"  
_**  
The colour practically drained from his skin and an instinctive mental question started blaring through the Primary personality's mind. _How was this going to affect Thomas?_

* * *

 

"Thomas~"  
_"Thomas~"  
"Thomas~"  
_  
"Wow, he is _gone_. What's even in those meds anyway?" Questioned Talyn as they shook their friend's shoulder.  
  
"No clue", shrugged Joan, "grab his phone I'm posting it on his Insta"  
  
"Don't-"  
  
"I told him I would if he fell asleep"  
  
  
Talyn rolled their eyes incredulously.  
"Really?"  
  
Joan had stopped the car on the side of the empty road and was currently stretching over to a sleeping Thomas on the backseat  
  
"Yep! Oh, pass me that marker from under the seat, I got an idea-"  
  
But before they could move Joan undid their seatbelt stretched over and got the sharpie themselves. Talyn didn't say anything as their date-mate uncapped the Sharpie, they just watched amused as Joan giggled in anticipation of what they were about to do.  
  
The Fusia tip descended. Brown eyes snapped open.  
  
  
Either the beanie lover was too loud or faith would have it that Thomas woke up and jerked away in time to prevent a pink marker moustache from bring etched above his lips.  
  
_"Tal'n?...don' let Joan draw on m'face..."_ , mumbled the host to his shorter friend.  
  
Try as he might, Thomas simply could not keep his eyes open. The manifestor's head lolled to the side and his heavy lids shut as they rolled back, falling instantly to sleep.  
  
Joan chuckled and again stretched their hands to draw- _only to have their hand smacked by Talyn.  
  
_ The multicolour haired Veiwer looked up at Joan and with their small- ** _but-threatening_** -self, they gestured for the beanie lover to hand them the marker.  
  
"Well, you heard him"  
  
"Fine", sighed Joan as they gave the pink sharpie to the shorter.  
  
"Lean him in your lap Tal, he'd be more comfortable that way rather than choking on the seatbelts"  
  
With a small shrug Talyn maneuvered the sleeping Thomas to lay on their lap, where they gladly took the opportunity to play with his hair.  
  
Joan looked at the two with a small smile.  
  
"So what now?" Asked the shorter Veiwer.  
  
The smile had not moved from Joan's face. "Well now, we go buy dinner and we crash at _Sandman's_ house for the night"  
  
"But he said Leo was coming over-"  
  
"It's no big deal, we can help him set up for it"  
  
"Sure", murmured Talyn distractedly as they traced the worry lines on Thomas' face.   
  
Joan buckled up and started the car.  
  
The three had been hanging out all day, the cafe, the park and the arcade was where their time was most spent. The day was going pretty well despite news of Thomas' youngest manifestation’s condition and of course the Manifestor’s minor freak out about having missed taking his pills at nine. He did take them at twelve though but it caused him to be drowsy around two.   
  
**It was almost five.  
**  
The manifestor had tried his best to remain awake but had unfortunately succumbed to the medication's whim.  
  
Joan drove as carefully as they could to avoid waking Thomas. Looking through the rear view mirror they locked eyes with their date-mate.  
  
Talyn bit their lip before shifting their eyes down, _a sign of their worry._   
  
"Do you think he's gonna be ok?" The shorter looked back up to once again lock eyes with elder Veiwer.  
  
Joan shifted in their seat, their voice uncharacteristically small.  
  
"Who, Thomas or Anxiety?"  
  
**A chilling silence filled the car.  
**

* * *

 

 

**AN:// aaaay, y'all ready? ;)  
  
So it's been almost two months, jeez I miss updating every Sunday, oh well, life.  
  
Speaking of, a lot happened in mine, I got invited to Dillan’s birthday party and Gran left on the 27th of July but I've been stuck with a flu since the 29th up until August, so that was one of the reasons for the fic's delay. Another reason was that there was a Hurricane, Franklin that I had to prepare for. It didn't do much damage just some rain and a lot of leaks but nothing too bad. Here's the best part though, like legit two days after we finished the minor repairs to the "damage", my mom decided it was high time for a vacation. So we packed our bags and headed out to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a week. I had soo much fun, I got to swim with Dolphins you guys, Dolphins! Of course for the Sunday we came home, the Monday school had started, so that's the final reason for the delay.  
  
*  
  
Storytime: Ok so the peeps on Wattpad know this but for those of you who don't, there was a particular comment on A03 about the AN'S, suggesting that I should remove them. I had fought with myself for quite a bit regarding whether or not I should remove them for fear of it annoying people but obviously you can see I've made up my mind.  
  
I write them and include them so that y'all know why the updates are late. I'm not sure how long you have been on the "angst train" but those who have been with me since the beginning of the fic know I've been updating every Sunday and for me to have suddenly changed that... Well, I believe that you guys, the readers should know why things have changed. That said, I'm not trying to guilt trip anyone I'm simply explaining my situation and if anyone would rather not read them then simply skip it. I have nothing really regarding the storyline in here and if by chance you’re curious about the comment of the week and such, it's in ALL CAPS so you can just skim to that point.  
  
tldr; I'm sorry if these AN'S  made anyone feel as if I was "guilting you" to feel sorry for me, it's only meant to be an update of the situations I'm in and why the fic takes a bit longer than usual.  
  
So without further ado  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK :   
BY ** [ **WolfGirl9494** ](https://www.wattpad.com/user/WolfGirl9494)

"BRO IT FEELS LIKE ITS BEEN 3 EXTENDED LORD OF THE RINGS MOVIES SINCE YOU UPDATED AND LEMME TELL YOU, IM HYPED

 IM SO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THIS STORY I CANT EVEN TELL YOU

 GOOD JOB, GOOD JOB <3"

 

 

 

 

 


	23. It Begins

 

 

The Guards standing beside the executioner weren't the only ones who came in, two other men entered the room aswell. An odd pair they were for they looked like the absolute polar opposites of each other, one was of... _lesser_ _height_ and scrawny, while the other was tall yet quite rotund.  
  
The Ex-Steward hadn't taken notice of the two as he was far too busy staring at the executioner, who was now menacingly sharpening their, already sharp, axe. The unaware Ericsson visibly jolted when the two guards came, each placing a hand on his shoulder and as they began tugging at his chains.  
  
"Wha-! Unhand me!" He shouted, squirming as much as he could in his binds.  
  
Now that the men were closer to Ericsson and by proxy Charles, the archer was the first to recognize the two.  
  
"Igbert! Finnley! Good to see you two again!"  
  
"You know these men?" asked Zenma.  
  
"Yes ma'am, these two are my fellow comrades in arms, we helped Prince Roman defeat the Monstrosity of a Dragon yesterday"  
  
"Did you now?" Her elegant eyebrow raised a querying look towards the Prince.  
  
Roman gave her a nod.  
  
"They did indeed and they fought quite valiantly alongside me on the field of battle, but that, of course, _is a story for another time_ ", his gaze then fell onto Ericsson before moving onto Igbert and Finnley. He gave them a commanding look and a small gesture, "you may proceed"  
  
The two guards looked at each other and then bowed, "yes your highness!" Slowly they began pulling the Arrogant emotion, his chains scraped and 'clinked' against itself and the floor.

  
  
**The tension was high in the room, with the Ex-Steward slowly being dragged towards a chuckling executioner, it was obvious that there was to be an execution today.**

**  
  
** All the while Ericsson was quiet, stricken in silence from his terror but when he was pulled about two feet from a certain axe wielder, his self-preservation finally seemed to kick in.  
  
"WAIT!"  
  
All paused wondering what the chained man would possibly say.  
  
"I-I'll tell you how I got here"  
  
Roman smirked, knowing that the slow drag would snap some sense into the Stubborn emotion. Schooling his features into a blank expression, he held out his hand, the gesture instructing the Guards to pause, Igbert and Finnley did so instantly and executioner seemed to frown.   
  
With the Tertiary personality's silent command given, Prince Leonidas now spoke. He payed the forlorn axe wielder no mind, but instead focused on the snivelling ball of chains that once belonged to his Kingdom.  
  
"Very well Ericsson, you may speak but I warn you, the very words you say will determine whether or not that axe meets neck"

  
  
**There were a few gasps but no one seemed against the dark skinned Prince's decision, as a matter of fact many of them were wondering why he hadn't simply executed the man already.**

**  
**  
Erricson bowed head down in shame, on his knees with his chains rattling around him, he began to speak.  
  
"After Father had given his Title to Charles, I was left with nothing...except the title of a mere Steward. That day I saw five of the slaves I grew up with, they had mentioned going to another Kingdom and foolishly thinking I could start anew, I followed but being the only one with a title was I not allowed in"  
  
"Did you sneak in?" Asked a timid Depression.  
  
His pride overtook shame and Erricson practically hissed at the Dodie lookalike.  
  
"No I didn't sneak in, what do you take me for, an imbecile?!"  
  
"Ericsson!" Bellowed both Prince Roman and Prince Leonidas.  
  
The man in chains shuddered at the feeling of their combined auras, with a small inaudible gasp he drew back a bit and muttered an apology to Depression before continuing his story.  
  
"A wealthy Old Farmer brought me in, under my title of Steward, he permitted me entrance through his name if and only if I worked for him. So I did, for three years"  
  
Roman watched him carefully for a few seconds, he wasn't Logan but he picked up a few tricks from the lie-detector of a Teacher.  
  
"A farmer you say? Then where, pray tell, did you get your materials to build the machine that got you into this trouble in the first place?"

The Ex-Steward didn't so much as flinch at the Prince's raised eyebrow, instead he sighed as if expecting the Royal to have asked that question.  
  
"The Farmer was good friends with a Craftsman and during my free time I would go visit him. He taught me wood work, metal work and machinery, all in exchange for company. The old crone had hardly a soul

to speak to and he offered to teach me for free, a bargain I was all too happy to comply with. There I made quite the amount of gadgets and trinkets for nobles and peasants alike"  
  
The now ever quiet room was starting to become tense with confusion.  
  
"If you were content with where you were, why build the machine in the first place?" Questioned Princess Gina, the expression on the usually calm and quiet lass was nothing if not perplexed.  
  
Erricson huffed and began explaining as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Happiness and contentedness are two different things and _I_ was neither. I just wasn't stupid enough to complain, as a matter of fact for the first few weeks I worked with both the Farmer and the Craftsman they both thought me as mute"  
  
Roman didn't exactly like the tone the Ex-Steward was using and decided to cut in. "Alright then, if you were indeed a good worker, then why did you leave? Why bother make the machine?"  
  
"I made it because I _deserve_ more. Even with the lowly title of Steward, I was still a nobleman and to be working my hands to the bone like a mere peasant just would not do. So I built the machine, one that would help Master Thomas have the most vivid of dreams so they wouldn't slip away when he awoke"  
  
Princey narrowed his eyes and his aura scratching dangerously behind a thinly waning barrier of restraint.  
_  
"So it was a bribe-"  
  
_ "I wouldn't call it a bribe-"  
  
"Then what would _you_ call it Erricson?"  
  
"I call it reaching a higher goal, if you had approved of the machine the least you would have done was make me chief of the project and I'd be living instead of surviving on that once pitiful farm"  
  
"Once?"  
  
"The farm no longer exists, the Old Farmer sold it, to whom I don't know nor do I care. He made his profits, said his goodbyes and disappeared. So I stayed with the Craftsman for a few days before another nobleman- one of my regulars- told me of the meeting you were holding regarding dreams. I saw my opportunity and came here to explain to you the ability of my machine"  
  
Princess Valerie, whose own aura was starting boil, spoke up, her voice serious and her gaze hard.  
  
"Yes and in doing so you also behaved quite rudely to everyone within the conference room. It is your foul nature and arrogance that has gotten you this trial, has it not?"  
  
The chained man glared right back at her, but then his expression turned sly and he faced the crowd.  
  
"I hardly see how, I was simply being honest. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't honesty be commended rather than tried-?"  
  
The Ex-Steward stopped dead, so did everyone else. A chilling wave of a certain Tertiary's aura covered the room.  
  
  
"I advise you not to do that Erricson, it won't end very well for you", ground out Roman, his glare even more intimidating that that of Princess Valerie's.  
  
"Majority of the emotions here were present when I specifically told you to shut down your machine for fear of hurting Thomas and they were also here when you blatantly disregarded that order. Not only did that infernal contraption cause great distress and grief to my host but it also caused a Dragon to be formed and run rampant within the Kingdom, many lives could have been lost because of your pride"  
  
Ericsson gulped, Roman's aura only seemed to get colder.   
  
"I am both Prince and Personality, my job is to protect my host and ensure that my people are safe and happy. You almost caused lasting harm to both and I told you before, threats as such are things I will not condone. I hope that I have sufficiently jogged your memory-"  
  
The chained man nodded vigorously.  
  
"Good, now put away that silver tongue of yours or your new friend", the Prince gestured to the executioner, "will gladly help you remove it"

The axe wielder smiled, raising his sharpened blade and miming a 'chop'. Erricson paled.  
  
"Now that we've all heard your story, I believe it's time for Prince Leonidas to make his decision-"  
  
Roman was suddenly cut off by a loud bell, following the sound came the trumpets and the same young lad that had been reading the history of the Kingdoms.  
  
He gave the Royals on stage a bow before pulling out and unfurling a small scroll.   
  
"The fifteen minute Intermission for the trial of Ex-Steward: Erricson M. Viceous, has begun! Refreshments are to be handed to you outsi-"  
  
Just the word "refreshments" had majority of the emotions rushing out of the Conference room. Only a handful of them remained along with the Crowned Royals, the Guards, the Brothers, the Executioner and the Councilmen.  
  
The young lad pouted at them with big puppy eyes, saddened by the fact that no one wanted to listen to him. Those on stage chuckled and it was Prince Dominic who had comforted the boy with a smile and small joke.  
  
When he had left, Roman stood up as he was intending to go onto the veranda. But was stopped by Geoffrey and, surprisingly, a member of his personal guard.  
  
"Pardon me your highness", called out the Vassal, "but my second in command has a request of you, Lady Zenma and Sir Charles"  
  
The Prince raised a brow, "is that so?"

  
He gave them a small nod and the three moved towards the center of the room where Zenma, the Brothers and the two Guards were. It wasn't often that Desna made a request, _as a matter of fact the guard hardly spoke at all.  
_  
Said guard was currently standing at attention with bowed head, the shiny gray armour did nothing give away figure but it was the Eye of Horus tattoo and long hair that gave Desna away as an Egyptian woman. Roman was well aware of the strength she contained, his personal guard was nothing if not ruthless in their training and combat, but Desna was always quiet and subdued around him for some reason. It made him wonder if she was still afraid of him. Hoping to coax her out of her silence, he asked her personally what she wanted.  
  
"What is your request? Or should I ask Geoffrey?"  
  
Desna did not raise her head nor did she make a sound, instead she moved, genuflecting silently, an impressive feat when considering all the armour she wore.  
  
Princey sighed internally, of course she wouldn't speak. He gave a small hum and gently tapped his foot twice on the tile, something he had picked up the first few times he had met her. One tap was no, two was yes, unspoken but understandable between them _and probably Geoffrey_. Either way the motion was received and the tense muscles in Desna's shoulders slacked slightly. Nodding, to himself more than anything, Roman turned to his Vassal and head of Guard, "Geoffrey?"  
  
The man in question held a disappointed gaze in Desna's direction and the Prince could practically sense the Egyptian's shoulder tense again, he felt bad.  
  
"Your highness", started Geoffrey, "she wanted to ask you for the young archer-"  
  
"What?!"  
  
Roman, Geoffrey and Zenma looked back at the Brothers who had out cried simultaneously.  
  
The Vassal rolled his eyes and glared at Charles pointedly ignoring the chained Erricson. "Not like that, calm down boy, she meant into the Personal Guard. She says she sees potential in you-"  
  
The Blonde gave a small nod but his brother had other ideas.  
  
"Oh sure, I'm in chains and the idiot gets promoted, _wonderful_ "  
  
"Erricson!" Glared Roman.  
  
Igbert and Finnley grabbed roughly onto the emotion's chains and tugged in warning. He shifted and shuffled wildly- as much as he could given his circumstance- and _growled_ at the two.  
  
"I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well say what I will", the Ex-Steward then set his sights on the Egyptian, "what is your problem groveler? Can't speak?"  


**Desna did not move.**

**  
**  
Princey was getting testy, his fists clenching and unclenching, his aura was hardly being contained, majority of his outbursts where unintentional but he still used it to his advantage. However the chained man in front of him was getting on his last nerve, he needed to calm down before he did something his entire Kingdom would scorn him for. Besides he had more important things to worry about, Anxiety was-  
  
"Oh what's this? He has a mute for a personal guard? I guess it’s good you can't speak, he probably doesn't care much for the snivelling of women. I know for sure, I do not"

  
  
**Desna did not move.**

**  
**  
The Tertiary personality however, growled low, "Ericsson I am _warning_ you-"  
  
"I'm simply asking her a question and yet I receive no answer"  
  
"She has no reason to Ericsson-"  
  
"Oh? Then I guess she has no reason to answer you either hmm? No respect it would seem"

  
  
**Desna did not move.**

**  
**  
"That is enough Ericsson!"  
  
The Ex-Steward shrugged, chains clinking around him, "Very well, but still, it's good to see that a woman knows her place, on her knee-"

  
  
**_Desna moved._**

**_  
_**  
In a blink there was a sword at Ericsson's neck.

With wide terrified eyes, the Ex-Steward looked up at the Egyptian, she smirked.  
"I can speak but I don't think you should possess the ability to do so", her voice had such dark lilt that it caused the chained man to shiver.  
  
Seeing that Desna had it covered Igbert and Finnley quickly dashed behind Charles, who seemed very happy to see them, _the Egyptian was scary_.   
  
Still as stubborn as ever, Erricson foolishly continued to prod at her, though he watched the reflective glint of her blade warily. "If you can speak then why did you not answer your Prince? Have you no respect for him?"  
  
The blade was pressed a bit harder to his neck, one quick movement and he'd have no voice or head depending on how Desna was feeling.  
  
"I did not answer him because I was thinking of a respectful way to tell him that I smelt the stench of a **_rat_** in the room but now there is no need, with his permission I could exterminate the pest quite quickly"  
  
The executioner, who was quiet up until now, guffawed and gestured to their axe, "take Matilda, she's been itchin' for some action"  
  
Desna shook her head, "thank you Hermes but only you can wield Matilda in her full glory"  
  
"True", they shrugged resting the beloved axe on their shoulder, "tha' sword ya got ther's no Matilda but i's sharp, put 'er ta good use"  
  
Erricson gulped, both the Guard and Executioner were smirking sinisterly  at him.  
  
Meanwhile Roman was watching this straight faced, the only thing giving him away were the small twinkles of amusement that flashed through his eyes, if you had good enough view of them that is. Shrugging nonchalantly he gave the Ex-Steward a bored look, "I did try to warn you".   
  
This earned an eye roll and a low growl from the man in chains.   
  
Princey looked ignored him and gave Desna a tentative glance, the Personal Guard said nothing but the subtle, silent tap of her foot and her small head tilt towards her head of command gave Roman the indication that she wouldn't be speaking again anytime soon. So with a small nod he then turned to Geoffrey once more, giving him a similar small gesture to continue where he left off, the Vassal did so freely.  
  
"My lord we wish to add Sir Charles into our ranks, given that he finishes the appropriate training and passes the-"  
  
"Wait a minute!" Cried the Ex-Steward, his movements were halted by the shiny sword still at his throat but that didn't stop him from voicing his thoughts. "You can't give a guard a promotion if they have been on trial! If you give him a promotion you'll have give me one too!"  
  
"See that is where you are wrong Ericsson", Zenma's voice, though her face betrayed nothing, was tinted with amusement. "You're the only one who is being tried, the Archer was simply answering the questions he was given, you on the other hand belong here"  
  
The Ex-Steward huffed but before he could speak again, Charles cut him off. Placing a hand on his chest he gave Geoffrey an inquisitive look.  
  
"I would be honoured to accept the offer but what exactly does being in the Personal Guard entail?"  
  
The Vassal smirked, "first of all your training regime will be increased. You will be training with one of my men for a month in order to prepare for the exam"

The Archer's confused expression prompted Geoffrey to explain further, but he was surprised when Desna did so instead.   
  
"It's a test you must to take to enter the ranks of a Personal Guard, it consists of a series of challenges, if you pass you become one of us and you'll be trained like one of us"   
  
Charles gave the Egyptian a questioning glance.  
  
"And if I fail?"  
  
  
"Then you start at the beginning, the bottom ranks of Royal Guards-"  
  
  
Erricson laughed, not even caring that Desna's sword was still at his throat.  
"Ha, of course! It's a bet, if you pass you make it big but slip up once and you have to start from the dirt you crawled out of."  
His voice simply dripping with sarcasm, "Now isn't that just fitting brother?"  
  
Charles paled, his gaze moved worriedly from his brother and he glance back at his two comrades, he'd be at an even lower rank than they were, he wouldn't see them again. The Archer's wide eyes then flitted onto Desna then to Geoffrey and then the Prince.  
  
Roman sighed exasperatedly, raising a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose before gesturing at the Ex-Steward.  
  
"Would it hurt you to stop talking?"  
  
  
"Possibl- _ugh_!"  
  
All eyes turned to Erricson only to realize that Desna had swiftly moved her sword and used the hilt of blade to knock him out.  
  
She then gave a questioning tilt of her head at everyone's surprised faces.  
  
Zenma, of all people, began to laugh. Wiping a tear of mirth from her eyes she chuckled at the Egyptian before turning to Roman. "I like this one, keep her"  
  
The Royal didn't say anything, he just gave the white haired woman a tight-lipped smile. On the inside his eye twitched and he sighed exasperatedly again, _he wasn't going to get a break today, was he?_ Fortunately, the brightside to all this was that his outbursts of aura seemed to have simmered down and with Ericsson unconscious it wouldn't be flaring up any time soon.  
  
Now calm...- _ish_ , he could assess the situation properly. Charles was squeezed between his comrades and by the looks of things they seemed to be encouraging him to take the risk. He could barely make it out but the pieces he could hear did confirm his earlier assumption.

  
  
"Look Charles, of you don't take it you'll never get anywhere"  
  
"Igbert!" Chided Finnley, the large guard scowled at the younger swordsman.  
  
"What? I'm serious, it's a golden opportunity for him-!"  
  
"But what if I fail?"  
  
Both Swordsmen turned to the Archer.  
  
"Well if you fail, you just start over, you crawled out of nothing anyway, you can make it right back through the ranks-"  
  
"Igbert! Remember, you need to be more gentle with your words"  
  
"But Finnley, it's a simple strategy! He moves forward, if he can't he starts over. He already has enough experience to have gotten him where he is now and from training with the high ranks he can get back twice as fast"  
  
"Not everything works like a battle plan my friend but I commend you for your strategy"  
  
Charles chuckled, the three of them had never really talked when they were going through their training. Actually the only time they ever talked was yesterday and now they were practically inseparable but then again risking your lives to fight a fire breathing reptile would do that to you.  
  
"I do see your point my short friend", the Archer waited for the outburst-  
  
Igbert drew in an offended breath and with a huff he released it, stomped his foot and crossed his arms.   
  
He was not disappointed.   
  
"I am not short, you two are simply overly tall!"  
  
The trio chuckled until-

  
**_  
"Ehem"  
  
_**

  
The Guards broke from their "huddle" and stood straight to face Geoffrey.  
  
"I do believe you've made your choice sir Charles?"  
  
The Archer gave the Vassal a nod, taking a breath he let his eyes scan across the room, everyone was looking at him. He took another breath.  
  
"Yes sir, I have. I-", he paused  
  
Desna was looking him directly in the eye, she tilted her head gesturing to the door and somehow Charles understood and gave her an answering nod.  
  
She smirked, moving away from the unconscious Ericsson towards Geoffrey, where she stood tall next to her head of command.

There the Egyptian gave the Archer a gesture to continue and he did so humbly.  
  
"I would like to join the Personal Guard"  
  
**No one seemed disappointed, Geoffrey even smiled.**  
  
"I figured you would", smirked the Vassal, he then turned to Roman, "your highness, have you any say against this?"  
  
The Prince shook his head chuckling, the situation had thankfully resolved itself.   
  
"Well then it's settled now isn't it?!"  
  
All eyes moved to Zenma, her eyes were twinkling and her smile wide.  
  
"I do believe my part in this is to bear witness and assess Sir Charles over here, is it not? After all, every Personal Guard must be screened by a member of the Royal Council"  
  
Geoffrey gave her a nod.  
  
"Good, now while I haven't exactly seen you in action, you did defeat a dragon with Prince Roman yesterday and I'm well aware that the Prince doesn't like to share those"  
  
Roman's cheeks coloured slightly at the small jab, causing those close enough to see it to chuckle.  
  
"Jokes aside", continued the Head of Council, "I will permit you to enter the ranks of the Personal Guard but I will require a weekly update regarding your training up until the end of the exam"  
  
Charles, with his head down, gave a short bow- a small oath assuring that the task would be done.  
  
"That is not all-", the Archer raised his head, an eyebrow arched in silent inquiry. The confused face quickly prompted Zenma to continue explaining. "This isn't a direct promotion, it doesn't work that way...well not usually. You still have your duties as a Royal Guard to fulfil and that includes your training. This means you need to successfully complete your training regime for both an Archer and the Personal Guard, the consequence still remains aswell, if you fail the exam you will be dropped to the lowest level of the Guards, will you still accept?"  
  
The blonde's eyes were wide for a moment but only just, he resumed his previous bow, "of course my lady, I've already said yes, I wouldn't change my mind simply because another task was added on"  
  
The White haired woman chuckled, "good to know archer, I give you my blessings so to speak, the paperwork will be sent to you later this evening and I expect your progress report by next week"  
  
"Yes ma'am-"  
  
"Good, now off with you, there are refreshments outside and I'd like to get my hands on some before your brother wakes"  
  
Small chuckles echoed across the room as Zenma and half the Royal council headed outside.  
  
"Well then, I do believe we can start training today shall we?"  
  
The Vassal's voice held laughter and yet an underlying tone that promised something most dreadful for the foolish one that dared object.  
  
Charles was no fool, he nodded quickly and Geoffrey turned on his heels, Desna close behind. The Archer gave Prince Roman a low bow and began following after the two, but before he could he was stopped by a hand on his chest- the executioner's hand.  
  
"Listen 'ere boy-o, fer some reason Desna ther' likes ya and tha' means tha' yer a good kid. Now I've seen many a good kids walk out tha' door and never come back. Make sure yer one tha' does, I don' know what's a happen when she goes full mute-"  
  
"Full mute?"  
  
"She's a selective mute kid, so I'm sayin' losin' another apprentice is gonna hurt her again, so don't die, got it kid?"  
  
Charles could only nod dumbly up at the executioner's large frame.   
  
"Were there other Archers?"  
  
"As in apprentices? Then yes, group of five good kids, they stepped out tha' door 'n never came back"  
  
The blonde gulped.  
  
Hermes chuckled, "relax kid, 'm sure ye'll live-"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No"  
  
The Archer deadpanned and Hermes laughed some more.  
  
"I just wanted ta give you my condolences kid, you know, fer yer brother incase Matilda gets 'em"  
  
Charles glanced at his unconscious brother, then back at the executioner and axe. Swallowing with a painfully dry throat he gave Hermes a small thank you bow.  
  
"Thank you-uh?"  
  
"Hermes, just call me Hermes kid"  
  
"Well then, thank you Mr. Hermes"  
  
"Yer makin' me sound ancient, just Hermes, no Mr. got it?"  
  
"Yes Hermes"  
  
"Good, now-"   
  
"Let's go Archer!" Came Desna's voice.

"Coming!" Charles waved a quick goodbye to everyone before sprinting to catch up with Desna and Geoffrey.  
  
Hermes watched as Charles quickly ran to catch up to the other two, before walking forward towards the Prince.  
  
"He's not gonna stand a chance, is he yer highness?"  
  
Roman shrugged, "we'll see Hermes, we'll see", with that, the Royal headed towards the balcony, leaving Igbert and Finnley to watch over the unconscious Ex-Steward.  
The Executioner then returned to their post and the group of Royals on stage flocked towards their friend.

 

* * *

  
  
"Are you alright?"   
  
Roman didn't even have the chance to guess who said that because the next thing he knew he was being smothered in warmth. It was a feeling he knew all too well, growing up as slaves together brought them close and the ten of them spent many a night huddled together but now it was just nine of them upon the balcony.  
  
Prince Leo and Princess Valerie were both rubbing his back, the two were always the most contact loving of the bunch. Princess Gina held his right hand while Royal advisor Deliah held the left. The other four said nothing, instead they simply pressed their bodies together providing their silent comfort and support through warmth. It was all he needed.  
  
After a few moments of silence the group huddle broke apart and Prince Dominic spoke up.  
  
"So, what brought this up? I know it's not just because of the trial"  
  
The Tertiary personality sighed and shook his head, "I'm-"  
  
"Roman, if you say 'fine' I swear I'm pushing you off this ledge!"  
  
The others blinked at Fariha, they often forgot how assertive the Royal advisor could be when regarding her friends.   
  
"I-I'm just worried, that's all"  
  
"About what?"   
  
Princess Valerie's caused him to jump, the motherly tone had a sharp edge to it, one that held no room for a subject change.  
  
He sighed, "It’s my younger counterpart-"   
  
"The so called embodiment of all eye-shadow and misfortune?" Piped Ben J.  
  
Roman winced at the nickname.  
  
"Wait, I thought you two were starting to get along?" Now it was Leonidas' turn to question him, "did something happen?"  
  
Roman nodded sadly, "He's sick, very sick"  
  
"I'm sure he'll be ok-", Alex frowned when The Prince shook his head.   
  
"He's at risk of fading"

  
  
Eight gasps echoed simultaneously off the balcony, for a personality to fade... _and one so young too._

_  
_  
"I don't know what caused it, none of us really do and every time we think he's getting better, he gets worse. Not moments before I arrived he threw up and I couldn't stay to at least help-"  
  
Princess Valerie moved to hug him and Roman held onto her like a life line. There was a faint trembling of his shoulders trembled and she gently shushed him gently, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"The faster we finish this trail, the faster you can go see him"  
  
"I'm afraid if I go back there will be nothing of him left", he mumbled into the fabric of her dress.  
  
"Oh sweet heart", Deliah and Princess Gina joined the hug.  
  
"Roman", said Leonidas placing a hand on his distressed friend's shoulder, "if it's true what you're saying, if he does fade, what happens to Master Thomas?"  
  
"Thomas seems fine for the most part but we don't know what will happen to him when...” Roman's voice cracked and the aura he'd been repressing flickered in sorrow.  
  
Almost instinctively the group re-huddled around the saddened Prince. He wasn't crying but then again he didn't need to, his broken whisper said it all.  
**  
"The saddest part about this?" His voice cracked again, " _I was just getting to know him"  
_  
** They held him and would hold him for as long as he needed but all too soon the trumpets sounded and the group was forced to jump apart.   
  
Roman quickly wiped dry eyes and straightened his hair. If the others didn't see him they never would have guessed that he was on the verge of a break down. He even gave them a smile. With that the group quickly began straightening out the wrinkles on their clothing, they were Royals after all.  
  
The final trumpet call sounded and Roman turned to his oldest friend.  
  
"What are we going to do about Erricson?"  
  
Prince Leonidas smirked.

"I think...we should end this trial once and for all"  


 

* * *

  
  
Apparently the rest of his students had gotten in on the "listing" as they so called it.  
  
Class had ended half an hour ago but majority of the students were there, some from the previous English class and even some from the Math class.  
  
At the moment Logan was entranced with the sight of the folder sheet being passed among them. Every student seemed eagerly prepared for their part, with phones out, screens bright and loaded on an open tab, the moment they got the paper they quickly wrote down their findings and handed it over to the next person in the row.  
  
The title on the page was so large he could practically see it from the doorway, of course it did help that it was in all caps.  
  
"MR. LOGANS' LIST"  
  
The Teacher smiled, truly he had wonderful students, sure they were a handful at times but they meant well, heck even Francis was writing on the page.  
  
There were now a total of four lists, three of them were completed and the other was still currently being passed around. He was given the completed ones to check over while list number four was underway, he was amused to see that in each of the completed pages had a few scratches and scribbles indicating that someone had gone through them before hand to ensure that nothing was rewritten.   
  
"Here you go sir!"  
  
Logic blinked up at the student, having been spacing out, he wasn't aware of the passage of time.  
  
"Oh, thank you Michaela"  
  
The girl smiled at him before taking a seat. Logan 'hmmed' a bit as he checked over the last list. He then frowned, a tad bit perplexed as the page in his hand was different and definitely not a list of food.  
  
"What's this?" The Secondary's confusion prompted three of his students to explain.  
  
"We already made three lists of food just in case your youngest is allergic to something your Prominent cooks-"  
  
"Yeah but we also decided to write down other possible reasons why he might be throwing up for a week-"  
  
"So we generalized it, you can scratch off the ones that don't really fit like, I dunno  alcohol poisoning or something?"  
  
"You don't really drink do you sir?"  
  
Logic shook his head and refixed his glasses. "No, not really Jaimie, alcohol tends to impair the mind, so it's not something I'm fond of. My host doesn't indulge much in regards to it either"  
  
"Does your youngest drink though?"  
  
  
"I'm actually not sure-"  
  
  
"Wait, how wouldn't you know?"  
  
  
Logan scratched the back of his head nervously, "well, he tends to be a bit...reclusive? Still I highly doubt that would be the case, he's a bit too-er cautious to have something like alcohol impair him"  
  
"Alright then teach, I gotta get going, hope he feels better"  
  
A series of "yeah's, yup's and see yah's" echoed in the room, the Teacher couldn't help but smile, "thank you all for your help"  
  
"No prob teach!"  
  
"Bye sir!"  
  
"Tell your youngest we said hi!"  
  
With that the students exited the class and Logan began packing his things. While he appreciated the children's efforts, there was one thing that unsettled him about the last list.   
  
He removed said paper from the folder he had just packed it into and scanned it over once more. There on the last row, right above 'Drug Overdose was **'Internal bleeding'.**   
_  
The Secondary paled in fright when he recalled the Friday where Anxiety became worse, the younger had been coughing up blood_.   
  
With eyes wide Logan grabbed his things, rushed to the parking lot and snapped his fingers, the portal was hardly formed before he dived through. Instead of his room he popped up in the commons only to drop all his things at the sight in front of him.

 

* * *

  
  
"It is now time for Prince Leonidas of Third Kingdom to give the verdict for the trial of Ex-Steward Erricson M. Viceous!"  
  
**  
The conference room was packed once again and all the Crowned Royals were up on the stage looking as if they'd never left. Erricson had woken up right at the first trumpet call and was now grumbling in his chains awaiting his fate.  
**  
  
Prince Leonidas raised his right hand and pointed to the prosecuted.

"Ericsson M. Viceous, I hereby sentence you...” he took a small pause for dramatic effect, Hermes raised their axe happily and the crowd grew tense with anticipation. _“To a lifetime of servitude"  
  
_ "What?!" Came the outcry of the emotions in the room, including Erricson himself. Mumbles and mutters escaped into the air and the chatter soon became quite loud.  
  
The dark skinned Prince, however, ignored them, and continued, his voice being enough to silence the room once more. "Since you wanted to be a part of this Kingdom you will now serve it with your life and as such I hand you over completely to Prince Roman"  
  
**The loud chatter began again.  
  
** At that Roman stood up, it was his turn to raise his right hand and the room went quiet, he only held it so for a moment before using it to gesture to Erricson. "Now that you are officially a part of this Kingdom, your punishment will be given accordingly. Prince Leonidas said you must serve and thus your service will be to this Castle-"  
  
Erricson huffed, chains clanking in his anger. "This is preposterous! You can't just-"  
  
The Prince narrowed his eyes and continued, voice low and authoritative.  
"You will now follow orders from the head of domestic-"  
  
"You're putting me under the Housekeeper? That's an even lower rank than I was!"  
  
"Yes and now you will be _even lower_ ", Roman's words simply dripped with disdain, "you, as of now, are a member of this castle Ericsson, you will follow the orders given to you by me or by anyone else I say and speaking of- Ms. Tilda do come in!"  
  
**The conference room doors were suddenly opened and everyone looked back to see who had entered.  
**  
A large black woman in a maid's outfit and an apron strutted in, her form graceful despite the jiggling of her big, bouncing bosoms. She walked up to the front, standing near a certain man in chains. Once there she gave a low curtsy to the Royals on stage, which was quite impressive considering her large frame.  
  
"My Lords and Ladies, Grigori Tilda at your service"  
  
Those on stage each gave her a nod, placing their right hands on their chests. With protocol over the large maid gestured towards Erricson. "Is this the new one?"  
  
  
"Yes he is", smirked Roman.  
  
"No I am not!" Erricson was practically foaming at the mouth. "I will not have this...this wench dictating me, I'd rather be held prisoner for the rest of my life!"  
  
"Well isn't that just fitting?" The smirk had yet to leave the Prince's face, "this castle is your prison and she", Roman pointed to Ms. Tilda, "is your warden, oh, did I forget to mention that she's also the head of disciplinary faction of the Royal Guards?"  
  
**Half the room guffawed at the foolishly unfortunate Ex-Steward while the other half whispered in awe of the large maid.  
**  
The Prince then addressed the Royal Council, "Is there objection from your Council Madam Zenma?"  
  
The White haired woman gave a glance over her men, "no, we have no objections to your punishment, proceed if given from your fellows"  
  
Roman then turned to the others on stage, "do my fellow Crowned Royals have any objection?"  
  
The eight looked at each other and Prince Leonidas answered, "there are no objections from us"  
  
The Tertiary personality faced Ericsson smugly and smirked once more, "then this trial is adjourned and you Ericsson M. Viceous are to serve this castle under Ms. Grigori Tilda's instruction"   
  
Erricson's eyes widened as the Housekeeper gabbed for the back of his chains. "No!" He screamed, kicking and thrashing all while Ms. Tilda was smirking and pulling him, dragging him like a stubborn dog outside the room.    
  
_"No! No! Nooooooo!"  
_  
**The conference room doors slammed shut.  
**

 

* * *

  
  
Patton shook his head and sprang into action, he'd check on Thomas as soon as he knew Anxiety was ok. That was probably against the main rule of being a Prominent since the host always came first but his fatherly instincts were just about screaming at him.   
  
He told himself that Thomas would understand and he quickly made onto moving the coffee table and clearing away an area beside the couch. He then gently began shaking Anxiety’s shoulder, well as much as he could considering the youngest trait was currently a blanket burrito.  
  
"Anxiety, can you hear me kiddo?-"  
  
"Dad, he can't hear you, he's too deep asleep", cried Pranks.  
  
The Father shook his head, and began removing the blankets that were atop the emo, the younger's shivering only became more apparent. Once the blankets were removed, Morality unzipped Anxiety's hoodie, but he did not remove it, instead he placed an ear to the darker personality's chest.  
  
He shot up quickly, scaring the kids in the process, even more so when he started to bark out orders.  
  
"Liam spread the blanket on the floor"  
  
The boy jumped but did as he was told. Quickly spreading the quilt as neatly as he could on the area the Parental had cleared moments prior.  
  
"Fiona grab his legs, we're laying him on the blanket"  
  
She gave her father a nod, this was a serious as she had ever seen him. Dad was already holding the youngest personality by the armpits so she quickly held on to Anxiety's legs and helped lower him down onto the quilt.  
  
Once Anxiety was flat on the blanket, Morality reached into his pocket and tossed his wallet to Steven.  
  
"Boys", Pranks and Compliment shot up, "I need you three to go to a Pharmacy in the Mindscape Memories, go get mint plants, vapours and salts, anything that will help us wake him-"  
  
"Dad, what's going on, what's wrong with Anxiety?", Misleading Compliment's worry was practically palpable.  
  
The Father bit his lip and sighed, this was already a high stress situation and he didn't want the kids to be any more worried but this was happening now and they needed to know.  
  
"Anxiety isn't asleep, **_he's unconscious_** , his heart is beating too fast-"  
  
"The shivering?" Steven's shaken voice was nearly a whisper.  
  
"He's not shivering", the father swallowed thickly, "they're tremors. He's having a small seizure and we need to move fast before he goes into shock"  
  
The trio, though terrified for their older brother, took the hint and dashed off, each with a nod and worried look for Anxiety.

 

* * *

  
"Your highness, with all due respect I must ask, why did you spare Ericsson?"  
  
Roman looked down on the random emotion, he couldn't recognize him but from his clothes he was obviously one of the high class.  
  
The while room had gone quiet, the Prince's reply would determine how everyone inside would think of him.  
  
"I spared him because despite his disgusting, racist, misogynistic attitude he did not intend to harm to my host. The machine's creation, though a mere bribe was still intended for Thomas in mind. However because my host was almost harmed and the defiance of an order, Ericsson was punished and not killed. I am a Prince and Personality, not a tyrant"  
  
Murmurs echoed throughout the white walls and Roman continued with a smirk.  
  
"But of course his punishment is quite fitting don't you think? He is at an even lower rank than he was before and he must follow the orders of a very dark skinned woman, all qualities that he detests. Now isn't that an amiable punishment? I may not be a tyrant but I  no pushover, I take my duties to my Kingdom and my Host very seriously"  
  
The conference room was dead quiet and Roman was beginning to wonder if he aura had flared out again, but before he could do anything about it another random emotion cut him off.  
  
"It sounds fair enough to me M'lord!"  
  
No one knew who said it but instantly the other emotions in the room began cheering. Not knowing what else to do Roman watched as the Royal Council joined in with applauses, followed by his fellow Royals on stage.  
  
He chuckled and began walking down, his friends right behind him. He was telling them that they could stay for a few days in his guest rooms before they left. The others happily agreed considering that it was getting late into the evening already.  
  
The Fanciful personality managed to catch sight of Fairy Godmother walking towards them but before she reached, he paused.  
  
For a short moment the Prince saw everything a blinding white-  
  
_"Roman!"  
  
"Roman!"_  
  
He gasped, eyes wide and chest heaving as he was pulled out of the odd trance.

 

"Are you alright?"  
  
Princess Valerie was holding his hand while Prince Leonidas was steadying him by the shoulder.  
  
"I-think", he swallowed thickly, “I think something's wrong"  
  
"If it's your youngest, you best go now", Prince Dominic's words held weight, one that placed dread in his heart.  
  
Roman nodded and teleported, not hesitating even despite the fact that he knew that it would cost him a high amount of energy to travel from the conference room to the commons.

 

* * *

  
  
_"Anxiety!"  
"Anxiety!"  
"Anxiety!"  
  
_ There was still no response to his name. The Father sighed, the younger was starting to scare him and the boys hadn't made it back yet. Fiona and Liam were pacing frantically behind him and their worry wasn't helping his.  
  
"Alright, Liam I need you to boil a big pot of water and bring me a small container of it, Fiona, in my room there's a bottle of Eucalyptus oil somewhere on my nightstand"  
  
The girl blinked, "wait, why do you have Eucalyptus oil?"  
  
"Remember when Steven caught a cold a month ago? That's what I used to help him sleep easier-"  
  
"But I thought we wanted him to wake up?" Questioned Liam incredulously.  
  
"The oil will help with his breathing, his heart beat is still too fast for my liking"  
  
"Got it!" With that the two split off, Liam for the Kitchen and Fiona for the bedroom, leaving the eldest and the youngest personality alone.    
  
Once more the Father tried to rouse his youngest.  
  
"Anxiety!"  
"Anxiety!"  
" _Virgil_ "  
**_"Virgil please!"  
_**  
**There was no response.**  
  
Refusing to cry Patton waited for his other children to come back to him.  
  
Fiona had reached first, having found the Eucalyptus oil and handed it to him while Liam carefully brought a small container of hot water.  
  
"You know, I wonder why I didn't just microwave the water. It would've been faster-"  
  
"Yes it would have Liam but we need the boiling water for the mints", Patton then turned to his daughter, "sweet heart get me some ice cubes and a two clean rags"  
  
The girl didn't even question it and quickly went to get the materials.  
  
When she returned, Patton lifted Anxiety's black shirt as far up as it can go before taking the ice cubes from the tray and wrapping them in one of the cloths. He then dipped it into the hot water and squeezed, before placing it on the younger's forehead.   
  
The kids watched as he grabbed the other rag and coated it with so much Eucalyptus oil that it stung their eyes and began gently rubbing it on the younger's chest. Afterwards he placed it flat on the dark personality's stomach and tugged down the shirt down.  
  
"Why don't you just take off the shirt? Or the hoodie at least?" Fiona was starting to get very worried and even more confused by her father.  
  
"If I do and he wakes up, he's going straight into a panic attack, the hoodie is his biggest comfort item"  
  
After a few moments Anxiety began coughing, the first response of anything so far. The Parent sighed in relief and grabbed the younger's hand.  
  
"There we go kiddo just breathe, nice and slowly", gently he removed the cloth from the emo's forehead and added more ice cubes and re-dipped it back into the hot water. After squeezing it he placed it around the younger's neck, it was held in place by the collar of the black hoodie.  
  
"Why-?" Liam's question was cut off at the start.   
  
"He wasn't breathing properly, it's one of the reasons his heart was beating so fast"  
  
"But he wasn't gasping for air or-", this time it was Fiona who was cut off.  
  
As if on cue the dark trait began to gasp and cough, his legs weakly thrashing about.  
  
Patton doesn't so much as flinch, he removes the cloth from Anxiety's neck and takes off his Cardigan.  
  
Just as he does that, the loud sound of something falling causes them to jump. **Logan had entered.** He had Dropped his bags, he rushed over to help.

 

* * *

  
  
The Father quickly folds his Cardigan into a square and places it under Anxiety's head, while the Teacher turns him slowly onto the safety position on his left side, ensuring that the younger had his leg curled up and his mouth open.  
  
As soon as they had finished a sweaty, panting trio of Steven, Pranks and Misleading Compliment burst in, each with an arm full of something.  
  
"We... we got stuff!" Rushed out Steven between pants, "we couldn't find oil though"  
  
"That's fine, I had some left over"  
  
"From when I was sick?"  
  
The father gave him a nod, "who has the mints?"  
  
Pranks lifted his bag full.  
  
"There's a pot of water on the stove, dump them in there and re-light it"  
  
The trickster quickly sped off to the kitchen, so the Parental turned to the other two, "what else did you get?"  
  
Steven started scrambling to list the items he held. "I got uh, a lot Vicks, high scented muscle rub, and some coconut water, the Pharmacy lady said this would help-"  
  
"And I've got your wallet and the Smelling salts", supplied Compliment with a timid shrug.  
  
Patton gave them a nod, "good, give me my wallet, pass a the salt packet to Logan and Steven toss me one of the Vicks, put the coconut water in the fridge and take the muscle rub in my room, I have a feeling we might need those later"  
  
The boys did as they were told and soon all of the children were in the Commons with Patton and Logan.  
  
Dad gave Logic a nod and the Teacher carefully placed the horizontal packet of smelling salt under the unconscious personality's nose. He held it there for five minutes all while the others, and himself even, waited with baited breath.  


 

* * *

  
  
The smelling salts did work but no one realized how potent they actually were.  
Logan barley had the chance to move the packet away before Anxiety's eyes shot open and he bolted up into a sitting position.  
  
  
The dark personality grimaced and coughs back because of salt's smell.   
_  
"What the-?"_ He doesn't even finish the sentence, instead he clamps his teeth together and hisses because the room was spinning, he could fell himself swaying and he was afraid of throwing up.  
  
He fell, he's sure of it but he reopens his eyes anyway, not even sure when they closed.  
  
His blurry vision has him squinting and he's barely aware that it's Morality holding him upright. His entire body hurt and his insides felt like they were boiling, to make matters worse it felt like there was something _clawing_ at the inside of his throat.  
  
Dad was saying something but he couldn't hear it. _The thing was scraping viciously now.  
_  
"It hurts", he rasped.  
  
"What hurts kiddo?"  
  
"Everything"  
  
He tried to explain further but talking apparently made that thing in his throat worse and he ended up having a coughing fit. Thick wet coughs caused his whole body to shudder and he was faintly aware that his hands were now red. His vision was almost non-existent but the last thing he saw was Roman looking at him...  
  
**_It all went Black.  
_**

 

* * *

  
  
An immense wave of nausea hit him the second he appeared out of the portal but all of that was ignored in an instant.  
  
Roman arrived in the commons just in time to see the dark personality's eyes lock onto his and then roll into the back of his head. The younger's body seized and two bright crimson droplets trailed down the side of his lips.  
  
Unable to move, the Prince watched as the red tear shaped liquid fell to the floor in slow motion.  
  
  
**_'D   r   i   p'  
_**  
    
"Anxiety!"

 

* * *

 

 

**AN: // aaaay guess who's back, back again. Guess who's back, tell a friend  XD  
  
*It was gonna be a Sunday Update but there was a storm and power went out until 12:30am today. (Its 12:35am rn) they said power was going to be back on at 8:00 :(  
  
God I missed writing, school was a bit rough but I mean that's fair right? Its hell-I mean school, Pfft.  
  
Anyway this chapter was lots of fun to write but I did end up changing it twice though, I did also split it again, since it was getting too long lol. Ok so originally Anxiety was going to wake up and stay awake to explain his symptoms then faint again but I decided not to because the actual reasonable response in our favourite emo's case would have been a major anxiety attack and that wouldn’t have moved things along plot wise.  
  
The other thing that I changed was that at some point Anx stopped breathing and Pat had to preform CPR which would have worked at the last minute. (Remember the chest compressions are supposed to be timed, if the unconscious person's heart does not respond after a second set of compressions a defibrillator is needed and I highly doubt they'd sell the kids one of those to bring to Pat). Now that Anxiety is breathing again - it was a close call- it still doesn't do anything plot wise so the final product was what y'all got.   
  
And yes Pat knows that Anxiety's name is Virgil, that will be explained, Shhh.  
  
I'm pretty proud of this one and you guys should be too, I didn't hurt him as much as I could have this chap heheh ;)  
  
One more thing, Innerworks has been gaining a lot more readers, so I'd like to know how many a y'all on my train. Highlight or Comment on your section and say Yo!  
  
Newbies  
  
The Emotionally Numb crew  
  
Throwers  
  
Jumpers  
  
Screamers  
  
Fainters- you know technically Virgil's in this one XD   
  
And last but certainly not least, we got our good ol' providers of fuel.  
  
The Cryers  
  
Holla at me I'm feeling good this week.  
  
COMMENT OF THE WEEK:   
BY Mother_Porcelain   
  
"JESUS! DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT ANTICIPATION IS THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF FANGIRLS?! WHAT SO YOU WANT, CORPSES ON THE TRAIN?!  
(Adored the chapter btw)"  
  
Lol.  
  
See y'all in the comments section ;)   
  
New Posting schedule: Midterms are coming soon so I will be needing to prepare and stuffs, I've thinking about making a new schedule so now I’ll be trying to post every Sunday after a Sander sides vid or every second Sunday. **


	24. To Stack Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take your mercy ;)

* * *

 

Joan continued to drive.  
  
Carefully they avoided potholes so not to disturb the sleeping Manifestor.   
  
They drove all way the up to get some food and eventually met with a Wendy's drive through.   
  
The Wendy's drive through worker took their order and the two Viewers waited patiently, chatting idly as their food was being made.  
  
Upon returning the lady smiled at them and handed Joan the bags of food. However, now she could see through the window.  Blinking she gestured to two at the back.   
  
"Is he ok?"  
  
Thomas remained completely oblivious, laying contentedly on Talyn's lap while the multi-colour haired Veiwer placed an arm over him protectively. They and gave a small shrug to the food service woman.  
  
"Yeah, he's fine just tired-"  
  
"It's been a long day", piped Joan as they paid for the food. It was at that money that Thomas shifted, mumbling and muttering something user his breath, all three of them froze.  The host then sighed and curled up more, hugging onto Talyn’s small frame.  
  
The Wendy's lady cooed, "Aww, that's adorable, you two take good care of him now, enjoy your meal!"  
  
The Date-mates said their thanks and Joan drove off again, heading to Thomas' house.

 

* * *

  
"Thomas"  
"Thomas"  
"Come on dude, I can't carry you!"  
  
"Did you get him up Tal?” called Joan from the other side, they were currently trying to get Thomas' house door open, while Talyn was supposed to get the manifestor up.  
  
"No, not really, he's-"  
  
" _Mngh_ ", the Host groaned, head lolling to the side.  
  
Talyn sighed, "- still asleep"  
  
Joan bite their lip in worry for a moment before shaking their head and smirking.  "Well you know just how to wake him up-"  
  
"You know he hates it when I do that!"  
  
"That never stopped you before", winked Joan before finally entering the house with all the food.  
  
"True!" Chuckled the shorter Viewer and with that they started to poke at the sleeping Thomas.   
  
Soon enough the Manifestor shot up and quickly brushed off Talyn's hands before covering his ribs and stomach with his hands.  
  
"You know I hate it when you do that!” It was meant to be an upset shout but it came out with a laughing huff.  
  
The multicolour-haired Viewer raised their hands, still chuckling, "hey man, it's not my fault you're ticklish-"  
  
"Hey you two, you comin' in or what? I'm starving!"  
  
Thomas and Talyn shared an amused look before heading inside _\- well it was more Talyn was supporting a shaky Thomas as they wobbly entered the house.  
  
_

* * *

  
  
Joan had already placed the food on the table when the other two got inside.  
  
"Dude, you gotta tell them"  
  
Thomas bit his lip, running a hand through his hair with a tired sigh.  
  
"I'd like to but I can't-"  
  
"They're draining you dry Thomas-"  
  
"I know Joan, but it's just the price I pay being a host. Don't worry it’s just temporary, usually when I'm like this all I need is some food and a long nap-"  
  
"You've been napping for a _long_ few hours", cut in Talyn, " heck _I_ had to drag you out of the car!"  
  
"I know, it's just that with the stress of Anxiety being sick and my nightmares-"  
  
"Wait...Those are still going on?"  
  
Thomas winced at Joan's pensive glare.  
  
"Kinda?"  
  
"Dude!"  
  
"I'm ok, I promise", he paused and winced again, now Talyn was glaring, "look I didn't have a single nightmare all the while I was in the car"  
  
"Yeah and the fact that you almost wouldn't wake up is what's worrying us"  
  
The manifestor sighed, "having them out here drained me like a cheap battery, I'll admit, that coupled with little to no sleep doesn't really help-  
  
"Plus your pills that make you drowsy", supplied a certain beanie wearer.  
  
"Yeah, those are a pain, ironic since they're supposed to get rid of it- any way", the host held up a hand, "what I'm trying to say is that, yeah it's a little rough but I'm fine really, I just need some solid rest and I'll be good as new tomorrow I promise!"  
  
Talyn and Joan shared a look and then deadpanned at Thomas.  
  
The manifestor pouted.

* * *

  
  
After dinner Joan cleared away the table and Talyn started the dishes, but not before gaining the host a glass of water, his pills and some stern instructions.  
  
"Alright dude, drink your knock out pills, take a shower and get to bed"

 

Thomas could only shake his head at his friends’ over-protectiveness.   
  
"Sure thing Tal"  
  
With a thanks he drank his pills and headed for the stairs. However, on the way up he stumbled. The date-mates gave each other another look and raced to help their friend. They got him to his room where they sat him down on the bed.  
  
"Really I'm fine you guys-"  
  
" _Sure_ you are-"  
  
Thomas stood up rolling his eyes, he began grabbing clothes from out of his drawers.  
  
"I'm fine Joan really, look I'll take a shower and head to bed ok?"  
  
"Uhh, how ‘bout you leave the door unlocked while Joan stands outside...just in case", mumbled the short Veiwer.  
  
Joan and Thomas gave them a confuse look. The host shook his head and moved over towards them.  
  
"Tal...what, why?" The confused expression instantly disappeared when he wobbled on his feet and slowly sunk to the floor. Placing a hand on his head, he groaned.   
  
"Ohh- ok wow, yeah Tal that - that's a good idea"  
  
Joan walked over and helped him up and clapped a gentle hand on his shoulder, "well, I guess I'm your body guard bud"  
  
"Looks like"  


* * *

  
  
During Thomas' shower Joan stood attentively outside his door should in case he fell, while Talyn took a shower in the down stairs bathroom.  
  
By the time the host had finished his shower, luckily without incident, Talyn was already waiting for him in his room. Gently, they guided the tired manifestor into bed.   
  
"Joan's taking a shower?"  
  
"Yeah", nodded the host, "it's a good thing you guys have extra clothes here-"  
  
Talyn laughed, "yeah and extra shoes, toothbrushes and even an extra key. Dude we practically live here"  
  
"Yeah, we kinda do"  
  
Both the Veiwer and manifestor looked to see Joan walk in and they smiled as the beanie lover joined them in the bed.  
  
"Alright big guy, let's get you to sleep"  
  
"Yeah don't worry * **yawn** * I'm way ahead of you"  


* * *

  
  
Prince snapped out of his petrified state.  
  
As scary as it was to see the darker trait’s eyes roll back as he passed out, something told him that if he didn't get help soon the younger would not be waking up at all. That and the blood dripping down his opposite's lips, sent him into mission mode and he gestures for Morality to pick up Anxiety.  
  
"We're taking him to my room", there was no room for argument with the Royal's tone. The worried children jumped and scrambled towards the hallway, they've never heard Roman sound like this before.  
  
The command also ushered the Father into motion, he knew that tone, he's heard it first-hand many times during the Witch's war. He remembered vividly that whenever the Tertiary was afraid he'd adopt a brave face and get serious. The moment that happened, you either followed his orders or you got left behind.  
  
Logic of course, wasn't always on the field.  
  
"What? Why? We need to-"  
  
The Parental cuts him off, his own tone becoming authoritative and no one had more authority than the Prominent personality.  
  
"Let's go Logan"  
  
The Secondary straightened up and his jaw shut with a 'clack'. He didn't know what was going on but gave a single nod to his elder, the father would tell him but for now he was expected to follow orders.  
  
Prince, who had spontaneously decided not to waste any more time, teleported everyone to his room. Morality moved quickly and carefully placed the unconscious Anxiety on the bed.  
  
The abrupt transportation unnerves Logan far more than it should but what completely sets him off is the younger's aura.  
  
"His aura, it's- it's _diminishing_ ", the Teacher shakes his head, his ability was unwittingly showing him the inevitable but he refused to believe it. He looks Roman dead in the eye, the Tertiary obviously had a plan. "What are we going to do?"  
  
The Royal meets his gaze and the logical facet could practically see the fire burning within those chocolate orbs.  
  
"I'm going to ask for a favour"  
  
With that he teleported, leaving the others in his room.  


 

* * *

  
  
Since Roman had abruptly left, Logan turned to his Prominent.  
  
"Patton, we need to do something or he's not going to make it, I can feel him slipping-"  
  
It's Misleading Compliment that chokes out a sob and that starts the other children. Pranks hugs him but there are teats steaming down the Prankster's face. Even Steven joins them in the embrace.  
  
The Father's heart pangs and he places a gentle hand on their shoulders, silently instructing Steven to get the elder two out of the room. The embodiment of Imagination did so but not without sending a frightfully worried glance at his big brother's prone form.  
  
Fiona and Liam refused to leave and Morality didn't have the heart to force them. So he instructed them and Logan to get Anxiety as comfortable as possible.   
  
"Remove his hoodie, Fiona. Logan get his shirt.  Liam, I need you to run to his room and get a clean shirt and pair of sweatpants ok?"  
  
The three didn't hesitate to do what they were told. They stripped the emo of his hoodie and shirt, despite the fact that his too warm skin shivered beneath their hands. Patton took note that while the younger's skin was hot, his hands were a freezing cold.  


* * *

  
  
Roman teleported near a wall directly in front of his friends and a certain fae, startling them all in the process.  
  
Grabbing his head and wincing, he took one, _and only one_ , half stumble of a step before quickly and forcefully righting himself and moving towards Fairy Godmother.  
  
"I know you detest when people ask it of you but I need a favour"   
  
The Fae almost looked appalled at the prospect and the Prince was just about ready to go down on his hands and knees.  
  
"Please", he begged unshed tears brimming in his eyes, "I wouldn't ask you if it were anything less but this is life or death! I cannot stress it any further-"  
  
"El pequeñito...”, whispered Princess Valerie forlornly.  
  
Roman gave her a solemn nod and the other Royals gasped.  
  
"What's wrong with your youngest counterpart?" Questioned the Fairy. Already having grabbed her med bag from out of thin air.  
  
The Tertiary shook his head, "we don't know"  


 

* * *

 

 

Roman managed to teleported them all to his room but almost passes out. The moment he stepped foot on his bedroom floor, the entire room just tilted, _well to him it did at least.  
  
_ Luckily, Princess Valerie and Prince Leo managed to catch him and gently lower him to the ground.  
  
Patton berates him a little, for using that much of his energy and teleporting so many people at once, but honestly everyone could see that he was just worried.  
  
The Tertiary was red faced and panting, trying his hardest to catch his breath.   
"I'm sorry...it was impulse but I had to-",   
  
Logan held up a hand, shook his head and cut him off, "Roman you need to breathe, put your knees up and your head down"  
  
"But I'm fine-"  
  
" _Roman_ "  
  
Princey sighed, while the Royals behind him jumped. The Secondary was having none of it and his tone meant business. Out ranked and out of energy, the regal personality nods and does what he was told. He lifted his knees and placed his head between them. He then took deep breaths through his nose and exhaled in hopes of stabilizing his breathing.  
  
Meanwhile Fairy Godmother had already walked forward towards Anxiety.   
  
Patton and his children, who were standing protectively around the youngest side, gave her some space. The Fae placed her med bag on the bed next to the unconscious personality and held her now free hand and wand out over the emo's bare stomach.  
  
Her eyes, wand, hand and Anxiety all began glowing a dark Teal. The glow soon faded and the Fairy blinked, her eyes once more their normal colour, but her face was pale.  
  
"He has internal damage"

 

* * *

  
  
Logan gritted his teeth, his deductions were correct and yet he could do nothing about it.   
  
All he could do was watch as the Fairy worked on healing the dark personality. Only her wand and hands began glowing again but this time the light was purple. For a moment he was confused but when he scanned the younger's aura again, he understood.   
  
She was stabilizing it.  
  
A tug on his pant leg pulled his attention away from the two and down to his left.  
  
It was Prince Leonidas, who called him, "can you sense what she's doing?"  
  
The Teacher gave the dark skinned Royal a nod, though he was confused as to why he was asked that question.  
  
"Will he make it?"  
  
Ah right, all the Royals except for Roman were emotions and when things came down to it, they only cared about themselves and Thomas. Prince Leo was probably worried about what would happen to Thomas if Anxiety perished.  
  
Logan frowned, "she's stabilizing his aura but I don't know about his chances, we'll have to wait and see"  
  
The dark skinned Royal gave him a sympathetic look and surprized him by hugging Roman. The Logical trait could barely make out the whispered, "He'll make it, don't worry", from one Prince to the other. Princess Valerie joined the hug and she whispered something to Roman aswell but it was in Spanish. The Tertiary nodded, and suddenly all the Royals were in a hug pile.  
  
Deciding that his initial thought of Roman's friends was obviously wrong and wanting to leave the overly tactile bunch to their comforting methods, Logic turned his attention back to the Fae.   
  
Who was currently diggings in her med bag and frowning?   
  
For some reason that frown caused Logan to panic internally and that small sliver of his aura managed to escape through the ever so slight crack of his control. This of course brought a sense of panic to the room.   
  
Roman lifted his head off his knees and focused on the fae as attentively as he could manage, despite the fact that the room was spinning around him.  
  
Patton who was sensing all forms of panic tried his best to keep his own aura from wavering. Fairy Godmother was still rifling in her bag.  
  
"What is it?” asked the Prominent.  
  
"I need one more ingredient-"  
  
"We can find it for you-"  
  
"It's nothing too hard, I just need some mint leaves that I can boil, it seems I had run out of my own boiled leaves without knowing"  
  
Pat gave her a pensive look, half glancing at his kids.  
  
"Will fresh boiled mint work?"  
  
"Yes it would, the effects should work faster the fresher they are-"  
  
"Kids"  
  
"Right!"  
  
Fiona and Liam rushed out of the room and Patton and Logan sighed simultaneously in relief.

 

* * *

 

 

The children had cleverly thought ahead and had drained all the water just leaving the wet leaves, those of which Morality and Logic instantly began to tear into tiny pieces.   
  
The Fae looked at both the Prominent and Secondary personalities with a brow quirked high enough to disappear into the fringe of her hair.  
  
"You know how to make the paste?"  
  
Patton shook his head but Logan shrugged.  
  
"No", explained the Parental, "I only know how to make the tea but Logan knows how to make a paste but I don't think it's the same type we need"  
  
"Hmm, that's still quite impressive, I assume you two dealt have with this before?"  
  
"Something similar, but not with illness", The Teacher answered this time.  
  
"Poison?" Queried the Fairy.  
  
"Yes"  
  
Logic's answer was quick and clipped, the Fae didn't ask any other questions.   
  
Leaving everyone else confused.  
  
Currently the children and all the Royals were sitting on the floor blocking the Gold door's access from the kingdom to the room.   
  
Roman, who was barely able to hold himself up, was leaning his back on Princess Valerie's chest while she knelt with her legs tucked underneath her. Prince Leo was kneeling at his side for support and the others were circling around them protectively.  


 

* * *

  
  
After what felt like an infinity of making, mixing and spreading mint smelling paste, Fairy Godmother brushed her hands together, signifying that her job was done.  
  
"It's a good thing you got to me when you did Prince Roman-"  
  
" ** _Shhh_**!"  
  
The Fae jolted, wondering what was the cause for such an outburst from the Royals on the floor-  
  
"Oh my"  
  
Roman was passed out on Princess Valerie's chest.

 

* * *

  
  
_"Creativity!"  
  
"Prince Roman!"  
  
"Roman!"  
  
"My fanciful side!"  
  
"Prince Dude!"  
  
"Prince!"  
  
"Heya Princey!"  
_  
......  
  
_"Did someone say atrocious?"  
  
"I too, am a Disney lover"  
  
"I never said Princey was wrong"  
  
**"Take it easy guys gals and non-binary pals, peace out!"  
  
**_**......  
**  
Wait...  
  
He knew this...

 

He _remembered_ this.  
  
It was during the filming of a Sander Sides end card.  
  
It was also the first time they had started hanging out with each other...  
  
**_But why would he be seeing this now?  
_**

 

* * *

  
  
"Mulan?" asked the Prince.  
  
Anxiety shrugged, a small smirk in place, "Never a wrong time to dress in drag"  
  
"Lion King"  
  
"Never a wrong time to dress in drag-"  
  
"-and do the Hula! _Ohhh_!" They spoke simultaneously and pointed excitedly at each other.  
  
With the end card complete, they both left.  
  
Sinking down to the commons the Fanciful personality continued asking his opposite questions.  
  
"Ok, ok a bit off topic but, favourite Lion King Movie?"  
  
Anxiety quirked a sceptical brow, the end card was over, the Royal usually didn't talk to him much when not on camera.  
  
When the darker trait didn't answer, Prince rolled his eyes.  
  
"Oh come one Mr. Dark-side-of-the-moon, it's a simple question!"  
  
The younger personality blinked, "did you just make a Disney reference and give me a nickname at the same time?"  
  
"Yes, now answer the question"  
  
It was the Emo who rolled his eyes this time, crossing his arms with a huff.  
  
"Ugh, fine I'd say 1 1/2 is my favourite"  
  
"Really?"  
  
The fanciful side's incredulous tone had the dark trait feeling defensive. "Hey you asked, don't judge-!"  
  
The Royal quickly held his hands up in a placating manner. "No, no! I meant, it's a choice I didn't expect, but, I have to admit...it's my favourite one as well", with a snap a DVD case suddenly appeared in his hand. He held it out to the other with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. "Would you like to watch with me?   
  
Now it was Anxiety's turn to sound incredulous. "You...wanna watch a Disney movie with me? You're kidding right?"  
  
The Prince shrugged, "it's only if you want, I'm not forcing you, I'm simply extended a hand to a fellow Disney lover...I still don't like you though"  
  
The Dark trait paused, taken aback. The Tertiary didn't look like he was being deceitful, so he decided to ignore the little voice in his head that told him to say no and test the waters- He must've zoned out because the Royal was now waving a hand in front of his face.   
  
"Oh", he blinked before shrugging, "yeah, sure I'll watch it with you Princey, I've got nothing better to do...and just for the record", he smirked at the other, "I don't like you either"  
  
The Prince cracked a smile and quickly set up the movie.   
  
The two then sat on the same couch, though at a decent distance apart. The occasional passing of the popcorn was the only time this space was breached as they watched the movie together in relative peace, both laughing at Pumbaa's antics and occasionally agreeing with poor Timon's griping.

 

* * *

  
When the movie finished Anxiety stood up, interlocking his fingers as he raised both hands over his head and stretched.   
  
_'Crrrk'_  
  
" _Ngh_ ~", he groaned in relief, sitting down for so long tended to mess with his back. Twisting to his side a few more times, he turned to the Fanciful personality, who was curiously watching him, "welp that's enough social interaction for me today. Thanks for the movie Princey"  
  
The Regal trait gives him a nod, "of course, would you care to join me for another tomorrow?"  
  
"Maybe, can't promise you that"  
  
"Really? Why not?"  
  
"I'm Anxiety, I'm spontaneous, I thought you of all people would get that Mr. Creativity"  
  
Any other day the Royal would have taken this as an insult but the Darker personality's remark didn't have scathing tone at all, instead Anxiety had the most miniscule of smiles upon his lips. So he conceded to still friendly atmosphere.  
  
"True, inspiration does come and go, but how will I know if you're coming or not?"  
  
"Just set it up, if I'm coming I'll be there", with that the younger trait left, signature smirk preceding his farewell.  
  
Roman shook his head, seemed he had much to learn about the youngest trait.

 

* * *

  
  
Anxiety did in fact show up for the movie night but he looked far more tired and paler than usual.   
The Fanciful personality, not wanting to scare off the younger trait, said nothing and they watched the movie in comfortable silence.

 

It was up until the near ending- where the two fairies were fighting over Aurora's dress colour- that the two personalities started to speak.  
  
_'Pink, I say!'  
  
'No, Blue!'  
  
'Pink!'  
  
'Blue!'  
_  
"I think purple would have been nice", shrugged the emo.  
  
"Really? I didn't take you for a purple kinda guy"  
  
"Why, what's wrong purple?"  
  
"Nothing, Red is my favourite colour though I’m actually fond of the Purple myself, it was made for royalty after all"  
  
"True, but if you like the colour, how come you don’t-?"  
  
"How come I don't wear anything purple, you mean?" The darker trait nodded, "I do have a purple sash", Anxiety raised a curious brow, "it's for weddings"  
  
"Ah, makes sense"  
  
"And what of you? Is purple your favourite colour?"  
  
"Yeah actually, next to the blacks and greys and stuff"  
  
"You just have to be edgy don't you?"  
  
"Yep!” smirked the darker, popping the 'p'. He stood up and stretched. "Alright Princey I'm gone, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"  
  
The Prince was taken aback, not by the question really, though that did play a part, no it was how the question was asked. Anxiety was hunched slightly with his hands in his hoodie pockets, while that wasn't really unusual, the younger's  voice and eyes held a tinge of...fear? The Royal wasn't planning for another movie night but it was nice hanging out with the darker persona, not that he'd admit that out loud anyway.  
  
"Of course! Aladdin next?"  
  
Like magic Anxiety seemed to relax, well he didn't move but the fearful look in his eyes was instantly replaced with relief. He gave the Prince a small salute and then he was gone.   
  
The fanciful personality watched as the other sunk down and he couldn't help but smile, he made the right choice.  


* * *

  
After Aladdin- where both of them fumbled and absolutely botched the lyrics to _"Friend like me"_ , the iconic _"A whole new world"_ and even _"Prince Ali"_ by singing them with mouthfuls of popcorn- they had a few more movie nights, watching classics like Pinocchio and Dumbo.

 

**Currently, they were just finishing up Mulan.**  
  
Anxiety soon stood up and performed his usual stretch but this time it was accompanied by a yawn. He was about to call it a night when the Regal trait behind him called for his attention.  
  
"Hey why don't you stay a little longer?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Can't you stay for two movies this time? Mulan has a wonderful sequel after all"  
  
The younger quirked a brow.  
  
"It's already midnight-"  
  
"No- no, it's fine if you don't want to, just thought I'd ask"  
  
Anxiety ran a hand through his hair, Thomas had been out with friends all day today and he had to make sure that his overly happy host didn't accidentally get hit by a car one to many times during that amount of time. Suffice to say, he was exhausted, but the Royal was practically pouting at him.  
  
"Yeah, sure Princey", he sat back down, with a plastered on smirk and shrugged nonchalantly, "why the hell not? Everyone loves Mushu"  
  
The biggest grin spread across the Fanciful personality's face and maybe just maybe he'll admit that he smiled too.

 

* * *

  
  
His eye lids were so heavy that they kept closing on him.  
  
His head bobbed and had met his shoulder again.  
  
_Annd_ his eyes were closed.  
  
He forced them apart for the umpteenth time but they slowly...  
slid...  
shut...   
  
He jerked back awake again, rubbing his eyes vigorously, it wouldn't be a good idea to fall asleep, especially in front of the Prince. But...he was...really...tired...  
Maybe he could lean on the chair handle for a bit? Just rest his eyes...yeah, just for a...little...while.  
  
"-ey"  
"Hey Anxiety!"  
  
His sleepy mind could only respond with a mumbled out, " _hmn_?"  
  
"If you're that tired you can always go to bed you know, we can just finish where we left off another day"  
  
The dark trait shook his head, well he tried to, he only succeeded in snuggling into the arm of the chair but the point was, that even when exhausted he was stubborn.   
  
"No...m'ok"  
  
"If you say so, but I'm not carrying you to your room"  
  
" 'm fine"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
" _Mhmn_ "  
  
Shrugging at that, the Prince left him alone and returned his attention to the antics of Mushu and the Cricket on screen.  When he turned back to look at his counterpart a few minutes later, however, he found the other half-curled and well on his way to a deep sleep.   
  
He instantly felt bad, it was his idea to watch the second movie after all. He picked up the remote and began lowering the volume-  
  
"I can't hear it if it's that low Princey"  
  
The Royal raised an inquisitive brow at Anxiety. "You're not even watching"  
  
"Yes, I am"  
  
"You're eyes aren't even open!"  
  
"They are and I was watchin' but now I can't hear it"  
  
True to his word the darker personality did indeed have his eyes open but just a smidge, Prince wasn't able to tell at first because of the younger's long lashes.  
  
"How are you even able to see like that?"  
  
"Years'f squintin' at a screen, 'm a pro"  
  
"No, what you are is half-asleep"  
  
"Half, 'mnot there yet, turn it back up"  
  
"Alright, but I'm serious, I'm not carrying you to your room"  
  
"I got'it already, jus' turn up th' volume"  
  
The Royal rolled his eyes but complied, raising the volume back at its original level.

 

* * *

  
  
The next time Princey looked back at Anxiety, the younger was most definitely asleep. His lips were slightly parted and small, almost unnoticeable, breathy snores were escaping his open mouth.   
  
The movie was still far from over and it was currently 1:41am, so really he couldn't blame the other for being tired and at this time especially. Frowning, he lowered the volume again so as not to disturb his opposite's sleep but the moment the sound dropped a few decibels the dark trait stirred.   
  
Curious, the Royal raised it back and Anxiety soon stilled.   
  
Realizing that younger was being lulled to sleep by the voices in the movie, the Prince left the volume as is. He'd always see the darker with his headphones on so he simply assumed that he slept with them on aswell. Shrugging, he let his tired counterpart be and he continued to watch the movie.  


 

* * *

  
  
"Frickin' Mushu"  
  
The Royal blinked away from the ending scene to look at the darker personality, who was currently chuckling under his breath.   
  
"Oh you're awake-"  
  
The credits had started rolling and Anxiety stood up and stretched.  
  
"Yeah * **yawn** * been awake for the past twenty minutes of the movie"  
  
The Prince, of course, couldn't resist the opportunity to take a jab at the younger.  
  
"Mhm, after you slept for half of it"  
  
The tired trait rolled his eyes and made a small circle with his index finger.  
  
"Excuse you, I only slept for a quarter of it"  
  
Chuckling the fanciful personality stood up and stretched aswell. Feeling both too tired and too lazy, he then snapped his fingers and willed their little movie set up into non-existence.   
  
"Alright, I think it's best for both of us to get some sleep, don't you * **yawn** * think? Ughh, you're contagious"  
  
  
"Yeah", smirked the other, "night Princey"  
  
"Good night Anxiety"

 

* * *

  
The following morning was quite amusing as it started out with Morality literally dragging a tired, bed-headed Anxiety to the kitchen table by the arm.  
  
"Come one now kiddo, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"  
  
The darker trait groaned, tugging back feebly in resistance.  
  
"Can't I just have brunch?"  
  
"No, now come on and eat your omelettes"  
  
The younger rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be pulled onto a seat where a plate with two omelettes and a glass of orange juice was deposited in front of him.  
  
He mumbled a small, "thanks", to the father and received an enthusiastic hair ruffle, and a few chuckles, for his troubles.  
  
The Prince smirked at his utterly dishevelled counterpart.  
  
"I'm guessing no movie tonight, or are you going to fall asleep again, hmm?"  
  
Anxiety shook his head, a small smirk - _it was not a smile_ \- on his face. "Nah Princey, not unless you want me to use you as a pillow"  
  
The Regal trait laughed, "I highly doubt either of us would enjoy that but back to the matter at hand, didn't you get a few hours of sleep after you went to bed?"  
  
The younger trait shook his head before digging into his first omelette. He took a few bites and chewed before swallowing. "I didn't, insomnia is not fun. I didn't get to fall asleep until about half an hour ago, I think?"

 

Princey winced, before standing up. He had already finished his breakfast a good twenty minutes ago, so he went to wash his dish while still addressing the youngest side.  
  
"Ouch, well then I suggest you get some rest after you've finished eating. I have a meeting to head to and I probably won't be back till late tonight, so guess I'll see you for movie night tomorrow? Does Hunchback of Notre Dame sound good to you?"  
  
"Sure thing dude"  
  
The Royal smiled and teleported off to his room to enter his castle. 

 

* * *

  
  
Their movie nights continued, each time filled with laughter and the learning of a new or different thing about the other.  
  
No matter how tired they were - though he may deny it, Roman himself had fallen asleep a couple times- they would still make time to just sit and watch a Disney movie together.   
  
It did wonders for Anxiety's mood. He was even spending more time outside his room, not necessarily in the commons with the others but it was still something. With the younger in good spirits, things seemed a lot brighter for everyone else in the commons. Having a happy and rather calmed mind had a very positive effect on their host.  
  
Thomas had been quite happy and exceptionally productive, scripts for videos have been going out on time, editing was flowing smoothly and the videos have been attracting mass attention from the Viewers. Not to mention they were a lot of fun, the Valentine's vid was great, Joan was an excellent Co-writer and Valerie was such a sweetheart. The Q and A was amusing, everyone got to poke a bit of fun at each other. Everything was scripted, with a few occasional adlibbed 'insults' or puns thrown in just to make it a little more visceral for the audience.   
  
All in all everyone was pretty happy, but of course that didn't last.

 

* * *

  
  
Roman had just come back from a particularly frustrating meeting and was currently pacing a hole into the carpet in the commons.  
  
He was the Prince _and a personality_ for crying out loud! The emotions were supposed to have listened to him, but no, they did their own thing and now Thomas had ended up with some oddly confusing and **_very_** unsettling dreams.  
  
He had warned the entire dream-section of the REM sleep department but they didn't listen and now they needed his help to fix things. This could've all been avoided if they had only listen to him in the first place and yet when he went back and tried to help again, he was ignored! Can you believe it?! What was the point of even asking him? This led to even more weird dreams, it was just so frustrating!  
  
Growling and mumbling under his breath, the Royal kept pacing angrily. He was so caught up he almost didn't hear Anxiety enter.  
  
"Hey Princey, me and Dad were talking about an idea-"  
  
"And what possible idea could you have not shot down, you shadow of the dark, deep and dreary?"  
  
Anxiety stopped and blinked, as he had unintentionally stepped back because of the force of the Tertiary's remark. He drew his lips into a tight line, clenched his fists and gave a single solitary nod to the voice in his head that started shouting _'I told you so'_ , at the top of its lungs. He turned and began walking away without another word.   
  
Sure he could see that his opposite was stressed, hell he could feel it but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to have the regal trait lash out at him. How ironic, he never thought it felt like this when he did it to the other. At least it's fair, after all karma was known to be a bit-  
  
"Anxiety wait!"

 

* * *

  
  
The moment the words slipped from his lips Princey froze in horror. He saw the little light in his counterpart's eyes die instantly and guilt flooded his very being. He honestly didn't mean that, he was just so tired of having his ideas shot down and Anxiety was usually the one who would do so with gusto and- with the meetings and the dream department- he just... _snapped_. He needed to apologize for taking his frustrations out on the younger.  
  
Anxiety was facing him now, his body language gave nothing away, but his eyes held something - the look of betrayal.  
  
"I-"  
  
"-Princey, we require your assistance"

 

The Royal sighed and bowed his head, of course now of all times he'd be needed. Lifting his head to still at least try to apologize to Anxiety, he was shocked to find his opposite was no longer there.  
Frowning he turned and sank down, following Logic's voice. He tried to apologize to Anxiety again when he returned but Morality had suggested a movie night and by the time he thought to have gone to the darker, the youngest have already left his room.  


* * *

  
  
Over the next few days he had been so busy with his Kingdom and writing the script with Thomas and Joan that he hadn't seen the dark personality until during the recording of the vid. "Am I Original" was ambitious, he'd admit but it turned out well, so much so that quite a few adlibbed moments were added in _...and that was the problem_. He didn't expect Anxiety to have sounded so sad and hurt in the end.   
  
  
The younger didn't start off mad at him but then again they were all good actors.   
  
The moment filming finished he made his move. Finding the emo wasn't hard, he was currently eating cereal on the counter top.  
  
"Hey Anxiety, I-"  
  
The younger held up a hand.  
  
"If it's to apologize, save it. You were pissed off and stressed-"  
  
"That doesn't make it right, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean to-"  
  
"Its fine Princey, it's not like I was gonna cry about it", the Royal raised a brow and the emo trait suddenly seemed to shrink into his hoodie. "...I just wasn't gonna talk to you in case you were going to yell at me again"  
  
"I'm really sorry Anxiety, that wasn't very Princely of me at all, I just...", he stopped and shook his head, "no- I won't give you excuses, it was extremely rude of me, I hurt you for no reason and I'm sorry"  
  
"Wow, never thought I'd hear a sincere  apology from you-", the emo chuckled, there was a smirk on his lips but the Prince was able to see it for what it was- an ice-breaker.  
  
He shrugged, "yeah, well it was unfair to be so rude when you weren't doing anything to me-"  
  
"Ah, so it's gotta be justified?” the smirk was bigger, much more real and less pitying than the one prior.  
  
So the Royal placed on one of his own and gave a little eyebrow wiggle just because. "Of course! While fighting fire with fire isn't usually the best option I'm still sure as hell trying though"  
  
At this the darker trait snorted.  
  
"Alright Princey, I can respect that, it's stupid but I can respect it", he jumped off the counter placing his bowl in the sink before pointing a finger at the Tertiary's chest, "We're watching Black Cauldron tonight though"  
  
The Prince all but beamed, the younger had forgiven him enough to continue their movie nights. Though he was curious to why he was forgiven so easily, by the embodiment of Anxiety no less, he decided not to dwell on it too much should the emo suddenly change his mind.

 

* * *

  
  
After popping up in Thomas' apartment a few hours later, the Regal personality learned exactly why Anxiety had forgiven him so easily.  
  
The emo and the manifestor were sitting around the table in the living room. Well Thomas was sitting at the table and Anxiety was sitting on top of it, they were watching something on a laptop.  
  
  
"So he apologized?"  
  
"Yeah, all sincere like too"  
  
"Then it was sincere! See I told you he would"  
  
"Ehh"  
  
"Oh come on Anxiety! You guys are a part of me, you yourself know how honest I am about apologies"  
  
"Yeah,  you're a friggin' sap"  
  
"Yes well I've been told saps are sweet, you know like Maple~"  
  
Anxiety paused for a second, wide eyed before punching the Host's shoulder.   
  
"Let it go Sanders!"  
  
Thomas laughed, playfully fighting back.  
  
"Never! You just drowned it in syrup!"  
  
"Shut up! It was your fault!"  
  
"No it wasn't, the syrup incident was all you"   
  
"You take that to your grave!"  
  
The manifestor just laughed harder.  
  
Roman shook his head, wondering just what the heck the syrup incident was. Deciding to avoid that, he thought of how interesting the scene in front of him was. Anxiety had been talking - rather hanging out with Thomas.   
  
He even asked the host for advice on how to deal with the Royal's outburst towards him.

 

Thinking it over now, his host was still as Productive as ever, a bit overly cautious but productive. Maybe having him talk to the physical embodiment of his worries actually helps-  
  
"....bet you it can't"  
  
"Bet you it will"  
  
"Alright what's your wager"  
  
"Uh-um, ice-cream! Ice cream from that place down at main street"  
  
"Any flavour for the winner?"  
  
"Any flavour", agreed the manifestor.  
  
"Deal", Anxiety stuck out his hand, Thomas shook it.  
  
Princey blinked at the two, they were watching a video on the computer and betting on it apparently. Shaking his head the Tertiary personality let them be, he already forgot why he even popped up there in the first place.  
  
Well no matter he had a movie night to prepare for.  


* * *

  
  
He never did get to watch Black Cauldron with Anxiety that night.   
  
As a matter of fact, he didn't see the younger for an entire two weeks. Logic was absolutely furious and Morality was a jumbled mess of worry and emotions.   
  
They were all too busy trying to cheer Thomas up and trying to get him to tell them what happened but the host barley uttered a word for the entirety of the time the emo was AWOL.  But on the day that he did speak- it was the same day he found Anxiety unconscious in the commons....  
  
**_Brown eyes snapped open.  
_**

 

* * *

  
  
Roman lay gasping as his memories pieced themselves into a picture. The day his name was revealed and the day he apologized to emo was the very same day that both the youngest side and his host almost died.  
  
Taking some slow deep breaths, the Royal managed to calm himself down only to then almost panic when he finally registered that there was a weight on his chest.  
  
Blushing the Prince realized that he had likely passed out due to exhaustion and that the others must have put him in bed. Fairy Godmother must have done a great job because currently Anxiety using him like a pillow and he held on with an intense vice like grip.  
  
Knowing that any attempt of prying the younger off him wasn't going to work, he gently rubbed circles on his back and began alternating from that and carding his fingers through his counterpart's hair.

 

Soon enough Anxiety's grip loosened, rolling his eyes at the now common occurrence, he gently shook the other's shoulder.  
  
"Anxiety"  
"Anxiety"  
"Anx-"  
  
" _Mmhr_?"  
  
The younger opened his eyes slowly, blinking twice in confusion before sluggishly sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Roman chuckled, gently removing himself from under his still sleepy opposite and settling in front of him.   
  
"Welcome to the land of the living, how are you feeling?"  
  
Anxiety stopped rubbing his eyes and slowly blinked at the fanciful personality a few more times.  
  
"I…uh-"  
  
The Royal cut him off with a frown of sudden realization. "Wait, you've been coherent this far, although..." he placed a hand on the younger's forehead, "you don't have one now but you had a high fever for quite a while, what do you remember?"  
  
The dark trait's head tilted to the side, his eyes questioning. "It's was a fever not a concussion Princey"  
  
The Royal shrugged.  
  
"Well you did mention one in passing"  
  
Now the younger's brows drew together, he was still very much confused.  
  
"When did I-", Anxiety cut himself off, keenly remembering what he said to Thomas when he saved the manifestor from falling off the couch. "Oh, right. Never mind"  
  
"So...what do you remember?"  
  
"Uh, well everything up until lunch? I remember before and after you had to leave. " _Uggh_ , I probably won't be eating spaghetti for a while"  
  
Princey chuckled, "no, probably not. Anything else you remember?"  
  
"Dad carrying me to the couch, the kids...not much else-", the dark trait suddenly paused and a gasp escaped from his lips. His hand gripped his forehead as he winced.  
  
"Hey-", started Roman but the younger shook his head.  
  
"I remember... being really dizzy and numb... and then waking up with the others around me...there-there was coughing and blood...and then there was you. I-I remember seeing you but that's it", Anxiety rubbed the middle of his brows, the nerves were pinched together in pain. He looked up at his counterpart, "what the heck happened when I was out?"  
  
The Royal was silent for a second.  
  
"Princey?"  
  
Said trait scratched his head sheepishly, "well..."

 

* * *

  
  
"Do you think they'll be alright Dad?"  
  
Morality looked down at his daughter, as a matter of fact, everyone in the kitchen was looking at her- well now him for the response.  
  
"I think they'll be fine, a little tired but fine, after all Fairy Godmother fixed them up quite nice, right Logan?"  
  
Logic, who had been sitting at the counter staring off into space somewhere, jolted slightly at the call of his name. "Oh, sorry what?"  
  
The Prominent personality chuckled, "I said Prince and Anxiety will be fine, won't they?"  
  
There was an underlying tone of 'you better agree or else' and the Teacher did not want to find out what that 'or else' was.  
  
"Well given that Fairy Godmother seems to be a very adept healer and Roman only really needs rest, I have no doubt that those two will make a full recovery. Granted that they'll both be needing extra energy...hmm, I believe we best instruct Thomas not to do anything too strenuous, lest he collapse-"  
  
"See kids, nothing to worry about! Now how's 'bout we order some Pizza?"

 

* * *

  
  
"So you're telling me that some freaky Fae just ' _magicked_ ' me better?!"  
  
"No, I said Fairy Godmother healed you-"  
  
"That's same thing!"  
  
"Calm down would you?!"  
  
"Don't tell me to be calm! I'm literally the opposite of calm! "  
  
"I don't understand, why are you so worked up about this? You're feeling better aren't you?"  
  
The younger curled in on himself, only succeeding in startling the Regal trait some more.   
  
"Anxiety? You are feeling better right?"  
  
"Yess"  
  
"Then why-?"  
  
"... I-I don't like owing people Princey."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"If it was just you guys then maybe I could have...but it's not-"  
  
"Anxiety, what-in-this-world-or-the-next, are you talking about?!"  
  
The darker trait practically exploded, his hands gesturing out.  
  
"I can't repay a freaking Fae dude! Who knows what she wants from me?!" His voice wavered, "If it was you guys only then at least I know you wouldn't directly screw me over-"

  

The Tertiary placed a hand directly on his counterpart's shoulder in an attempt to get him to calm some.  
  
"Anxiety listen to me, Fairy Godmother is good, she's not gonna ask you for any favours or anything like that ok? Why would you think that she would?-"  
  
"She's a fae", hissed the darker trait, "they don't do favours, they make deals"  
  
Roman sighed, a half-frustrated thing before pausing and exhaling softly.  
  
"I know", he whispered.  
  
The younger trait swallowed thickly, "what does she want in return?"  
  
Roman gave him a small sad smile. Anxiety tensed.  
  
"She wants...nothing from you"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I was the one who made a deal with her, not you-"  
  
"But that means-"  
  
"Yes, I owe her"  
  
The dark trait's throat was suddenly dry and a nervous sweat started to form at the edge of his brow.  
  
"W-what does she want from you?"  
  
Prince shrugged, tilting his head to the side, "Oh you know, for me not to fight Dragons in the next two days?"  
  
Anxiety blinked, frowning in confusion before realizing that there was a small smirk on the Royal's face. He instantly punched the other on the arm.  
  
"You jerk!"   
  
"I'm sorry!" Roman chuckled breaking character as he gently batted away the Youngers 'attacks'.   
  
"It was just too good a moment to pass up!"  
  
"You're the worst!"  
  
"I am not!" He cried indignantly, "besides you wouldn't listen to me unless I got serious, so I did! I kept trying to tell you Fairy Godmother is good and that she wouldn't harm us-well unless you angered her but that's a different story- why did you jump to that conclusion anyway?"  
  
"Do you know how many conspiracy theories there are of fae and fairies?"  
  
The Royal shrugged. “You know I don't really know the difference-"  
  
"Fairies well help you, Faes will kill you"  
  
"But she's like both?"  
  
"Which means she'll help you until you piss her off and then she'll kill you"  
  
"Yeah, that sounds like her"  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes and flopped onto Prince's chest, pushing the other onto his back. "God I hate you"  
  
The Royal laughed and like magic - or well the new routine- he automatically curled around the younger, placing one arm around his waist and the other carding through his hair.  
  
"Sure you do"  
  
They were silent for only a moment before Roman spoke up.  
  
"You're heartbeat is really fast"  
  
"Well no shi-"  
  
The sound of the door knob slowly turning cut the emo off. The two watched it turn and open almost as if mesmerized, a second later a brown mop of hair and a certain father figure's head popped through the opening. He smiled when he saw them awake.  
  
"Heya kiddos! How are we feeling?"  
  
"Better", they said simultaneously. The two opposites looked at each other startled and then began to laugh. Morality joined in as well.  
  
Princey eventually stood up, bringing a shaky Anxiety with him. The darker wobbled for a moment before simply latching on to Dad. The Parental braced the younger, gently holding him upright by the shoulders but not too tight should he wish to move. He was ready to catch him if he fell though.  
  
"You sure you're feeling better?"  
  
The darker gave him a nod, still trying to get his legs to respond properly.  
  
"That's good to hear", think you can handle dinner with us tonight?"  
  
Anxiety took a semi-steady step away from the Parental, but stayed at arm’s reach just in case. When he didn't fall he smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I think I can"

 

* * *

  
The dinner in the commons was filled with a relived mood. Conversations were light-hearted, mainly filled with jokes, puns and the occasional facts.   
  
Logic had begun talking about his class which soon lead to him happily showing off their lists...well the one's with food that is. Morality was gushing about how nice the children were and Anxiety smiled gratefully, instructing the Teacher to thank his students.  
  
The idle chatter continued and Roman had ended up recounting his entire battle with the Copyright Maleficent, which then deviated into him explaining what happened during the trial.  
  
"So now Ericson’s a maid?" Asked Pranks with his mouthful of pizza.  
  
"Well, maid in training but essentially yes"  
  
"Serves him right!" Exclaimed Fiona.

 

"Yeah!" Agreed the other children.  
  
"Oh-uh, looks like I've riled them up Padre"  
  
The Fatherly trait chuckled as he stood up and took his plate to the sink, "that's alright Roman, now kids finish your pizza and head for bed ok?"  
  
A series of  "Ok's “, "Sure thing" and "Yes dad", echoed as the children quickly finished their dinner.  
  
Each one of them took their time to pass the Prominent their plates for him to wash before all of them decided to tackle Anxiety in a hug.  
  
The Dark personality tensed and almost choked on his meat lovers but he managed to wrap his arms around them, after he put his slice of pizza down of course.  
  
"Come on you little brats, Dad said it's time for bed", they squeezed him harder and he felt something prick at his eyes but he blinked them back. With a small sigh he gave the kids his signature smirk, "besides you guys can't get rid of me that easily"  
  
They gave him some teary smiles in return before finally breaking away and heading to their rooms.  


* * *

  
  
"I really scared them didn't I?" Anxiety asked after the kids left.  
  
Morality came out of the kitchen, drying his hand on a small towel before gently ruffling the emo's hair, "you scared all of us kiddo, but we're glad you're doing ok now. Tomorrow Fairy Godmother's going to tell us what happened to you-"  
  
Princey choked, "wait she didn't tell you?"  
  
"No she didn't Roman", piped Logan as he stood up to carry his plate to the sink and wash it, "she wanted to explain it to all of us and she needed to return your friends to your Palace which means that she won't be able to meet with us until tomorrow evening"  
  
The Royal cleared his throat, "yeah, the energy drainage would have taken a lot out of her, especially since she was healing", his face then took a pensive expression, "hmm, I wonder if she would be going to the meeting tomorrow-"  
  
  
"You have another meeting?"  
  
The Tertiary looked at his opposite, "uh yeah, this one is because of Love and Lust, it should be a really short one, just some ideas to make sure Thomas and Leo have a decent time while their hanging out this weekend...", Roman's voice trailed off as he watched  three blank expressions form on their faces. Realization hit pretty quickly and he snapped his fingers in the notion, "Oh right, you guys don't know! Leo's coming over for a weekend sleep-over"  
  
"Al-alright, just make sure you tell us those ideas right champ?"  
  
The Parent suddenly looked pale but the Regal trait didn't call it out, he figured the elder was still dwelling on the fact that he didn't know about Leo.   
  
"Of course! We'll make sure Thomas has the most epic weekend ever!" He exclaimed as he stood up to wash his plate as well.  
  
"Or a decent one at least, let's not get our hopes up Princey"  
  
Without missing a beat the fanciful trait whirled around and lightly punched Anxiety on the shoulder with a smile, "it's good to have you back Dr. Gloom"  
  
"Good to be back", smirked the darker.

 

* * *

  
  
"Is he ok?"  
  
"I think so Tal", whispered Joan as they turned and placed a hand on the sleeping Thomas' forehead. "He's warm but it's not a fever"  
  
Talyn slowly sat up from the end of the bed and onto their feet as they moved off.  
  
"Where are you going?” whispered the Veiwer still in bed.  
  
"To get some water and a cold rag for him"  
  
Joan looked pensively at their date-mate for a moment. "Alright, bring me a glass too"  
  
"Sure thing"  
  
When Talyn returned they passed a glass  to Joan before placing a damp rag on Thomas, the manifestor didn't so much as stir.

 

* * *

  
  
It was currently midnight and everyone in and out of the mindscape was asleep. Keyword, was.  
  
Anxiety shakily stood up from his bed and headed towards his bathroom a motion that seemed even harder to do than before. The usual nauseous spinning had nothing on this and his stomach felt like there was lava in it. He may have fallen on his way to the bowl but he wasn't sure, all he knew was that whatever was in his stomach wanted to come out and that's exactly what happened. He was only just aware that he had spent five minutes throwing up and thus wasting good meat lovers Pizza.

 

Frowning he spat into the bowl, he was about to move when another bout of nausea caused him to throw up again but purely bile this time. The acidic substance burned his throat as he heaved, his stomach cramped and a sob left his lips - he couldn't catch a break could he?  
  
Something touched him.  
  
The dark trait jumped before realizing that it was a hand that he felt on his back, turning he saw all his counterpart's giving him pitying looks. Apparently he did fall and loudly enough for the others to hear. Princey had a water bottle, which he took to wash the bile from his mouth. Morality helped him wipe his face before he pulled him towards his chest.  
  
He could barely hear what Logic was saying over the sudden assault of white noise ringing in his ear but it sounded vaguely like he was talking... about food?  
  
"..._-ot..._-food"  
  
'not food?'  
  
His eyes widened in realization.  
  
The Secondary had told him that he and his class assumed he was allergic to something in Morality's food but...  
  
**_It was not the food._**

 

* * *

 

**AN:// Finals started today so wish me luck!**

**  
  
OK so because I was gone for so long y’all get a 30 page chapter, but like apologies for lateness, I was in the hospital again. Long story short school and ovarian cysts aren't fun especially with back pain.  
  
This chapter had been rewritten so many times I'm not even kidding. Moving on Part 1 and 2 confirmed so many of my HCs but shot twice as many down and if you haven't noticed I try to stay as in cannon as I can. I lost count of the rewrites after the 7th time, bleh.  
  
On the Brightside of things a lot more people joined the angst train, so welcome you guys! As for those already here. Do say hi, I love chatting with you guys in the comments ok it makes my not so good day’s _waay_ better. No need to be shy just hop on in and type something, who knows you can even make new friends.  
  
Speaking of we have a new member of our train,  he'll be meeting up front with me and "my crew" and will be introduced next chapter just because I think y'all would need him then ;)  
  
_*also forgive me if the writing seems a little off, I was in a lot of pain, so bear with me.  
  
-Yes I know you said to stop typing in the hospital but like, I hate not updating, you know who you are and thanks for caring, it means a lot, sorry for being stubborn XD.  
_  
Lol I think this is the only Fandom where people will threaten content creators to rest and take care of themselves before putting out content, the Fanders Fandom rules!  
  
COMMENT OF THE MONTH:   
BY @K4tieCraft  
** "Patton: Steven! Quick! Go get the defibrillator from my closet upstairs!  
  
Steven: Why the frig would you have a defibrillator in your closet?!  
  
Patton: Shut up Steven, because it's plot convenient!  
  
  
This was the actual scenario that played in my head as I read that entire paragraph...  
Meanwhile Virgil's over there causally having a seizure." **  
  
Lol.  
  
See y'all in the comments section ;) **


	25. Like Dominoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the AN Guys!

* * *

 

“It could still be the food”

 

Logan froze at the Father’s words, brows creasing, “what do you mean?”

 

Patton didn’t answer him, instead he looked down at the Anxiety in his lap.” Kiddo? How much Pizza did you eat?”

 

It took a bit for the youngest to respond but after the ringing in his ears subsided and the Parent had repeated the question a second time, Anxiety was able to answer. His voice was raspy but still very understandable.

 

“Um…about four slices, I think?”

 

The other three stared at him incredulously.

 

“What? It was Meat-lovers and I was hungry!” exclaimed the emo, crossing his arms defensively.

 

Patton chuckled, “You may have eaten a bit too much sport-“

 

“Yeah”, piped the Prince, “I believe I heard Fairy godmother mention that you had internal Damage?”

 

“Indeed she did Roman, however, since she did not specify, the damage could range from something as severe as a failing organ to something more minor like an ulcer-”

 

“It’s probably the latter Teach, heaven knows this guy doesn’t eat-”

 

“Hey, I eat!” pouted Anxiety from the confines of the father’s lap.

 

“Healthy foods?” Smirked the father in question, a single brow quirking smugly.

 

“…sometimes…”

 

“Thought so”

 

The dark trait huffed, arms still crossed, looking nothing unlike a petulant child.

Roman chuckled, even he had to admit that the sight was quite amusing but as entertaining as it was, the Royal decided to give his younger counterpart a break. He stood up from where he had been squatting. ”Well, as interesting as this was, I think we should get the Edge-Lord something to settle his stomach and then we can all head back to bed, sounds good to you guys?”

 

“An exceptional idea, I’ll go make some tea”, answered Logan as he headed out the bathroom door, the Prince trailing right behind him with the other two quietly arguing, though not far behind. Of course, the reason for the “argument” was because Patton had picked up the youngest side and was currently carrying him to the Kitchen.

 

“I can walk you know”

 

“I know, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should”

 

The Dark trait huffed, “Just put me down Dad”

 

“Nah, I don’t think so sport, you scared me so this is your punishment”

 

Of course, Anxiety knew the Parental was joking but the prospect still stood, he had scared all of them including himself. Really, Morality’s fears were, though not unfounded, hardly subtle, as a matter of fact, his heart beat hadn’t slowed down much at all. Groaning, the dark personality huffed out an obviously exaggerated “ _fiiine_ ” and then promptly proceeded in curling- _he did not snuggle_ -further into Dad’s arms. To this, the father practically beamed, placing his head atop the younger’s in thanks.

 

Once at the kitchen Morality gently set Anxiety down on a chair and Logan handed him some tea.  Now that they were all up, neither of them felt like leaving so, they stayed up and chatted. They spoke of meaningless and idle things long until eyelids could no longer be held open.

 

* * *

 

”Roman!”

“Roman!”

 

The aforementioned Royal groaned, eyes opening slowly.

 

“Come on sport, it’s time for you to get to bed”

 

The Prince turned his head slightly to look up at the Prominent. He only did so for a moment because his vision blurred-

 

**Morality was shaking his shoulders again, _an impressive feat considering he was holding an armful of sleeping Anxiety._**

****

The Prince groaned again, lifting his heavy head from the wood, causing a long sticky strand of saliva to form a bridge between his sodden cheek and the small pool of drool on the table. Blinking blankly, he wiped it off with his shoulder, usually he would grimace at the action but his mind was absolutely muddled with fatigue.

 

Dad placed his hand on the opposite shoulder and squeezed lightly to draw the Royal’s sleepy attention to him once more, seeing as the Tertiary had spaced out again.

 

“Let’s get you to bed _hmm_? You have a meeting right?”

That seemed to register in Princey’s fogged subconscious and he nodded, slowly moving himself from off the table and standing up.

“Mhm”, mumbled the Prince, swaying as he stood, “ th’ meetin’s at six”

Seeing the sway, Patton gently nudged the Royal forward and his began moving forward at turtle’s pace. They had made it to the stairs when Logan came down from where ever he had gone.

 

“Do you think it was wise”, started the Teacher as he began climbing back up the steps with the other two, “to have let either of them out of bed at all today?’

The Parent shrugged, “Probably not, but they’re ok, just tired. They’ll be fine, don’t worry”

“I’m not worried, only mildly concerned, they look utterly exhausted. Given the circumstances it makes sense but it’s just…odd to see them like this” 

“True but is cute though, I mean this one here practically crawled into my arms-”

 

Logic gave him a look.

“Well, ok, he didn’t _actually_ crawl but he would have fallen off the chair if I didn’t catch him. He’s been holding onto me ever since, like a lil’ koala!” Morality chuckled at his comparison causing a snort from his Secondary behind him. “Also Roman face planted onto the table-”

“I did not!” came the sleepy outcry of the Prince, his slow trudge to his room had completely stopped and he leaned tiredly against the wall. It was obvious that he was trying to be intimidating or at the very least, less of a limp noodle, either way he was failing. Chuckling, Logan helped him up and they continued their way through the hallway to their rooms.

 

The rest of the night-well, _morning_ -continued without incident, except, of course, when Logic had to save a certain Royal from slamming head first into a wall.  Morality easily carried Anxiety to his room and tucked him in before heading to his own room, on the way out he met Logan coming out of Roman’s room.

“He asleep?” asked the Father with an amused grin.

The Teacher chuckled, “he was out the moment his head touched his pillow, I had to push him a bit, lest he falls of the edge of his bed”

 

Dad laughed, shaking his head a bit, “alright Lo, now that the kids are in bed, how’s about we head to our own hmm?”

“Gladly”, agreed Logan as he stretched a hand over his head, I have a feeling that it’ll be a long day come sunrise”

“You got that right teach, but we’ll be alright”, the fatherly trait smiled as they walked towards their rooms. When he reached his own he turn to Logic and gave him a smile and small wave. “Sweet dreams Logan!”

“Oh-um yes, same to you Patton!”

The logical trait retreated quickly to his room, closing the door he leaned against it, he placed a hand to his cheek, it had started to slightly itch and burn when the Prominent smiled at him.  Shaking his head, he crawled into bed thinking that he should probably write down his symptoms to see if he truly was getting sick.

 

* * *

 

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know?!”

“Well go check on him! His eyes are starting to creep me out!”

“Fine! But if he’s actually possessed, I’m running outta here, just saying”

“Joan!”

“I’m serious Tal-“

“Just...I don’t know, talk to him!”

“Ok, Ok!”

The two Viewers were on the edge of Thomas’ bed opposite the host, with Talyn hiding behind Joan. The Manifestor on the other side was worrying both of them.

 

…..

 

It was very early in the morning. Like around four or five a.m., though the time wasn’t the problem, what was, however, was the fact that Thomas was…awake? His eyes had just slid open at one point and he had sat up, absolutely scaring the beanie lover next to him.

 

“Thom-? Oh shit- Tal! Tal wake up!”

“Joan, wha-? Oh my god!”  Talyn sat up with a gasp, “I-is he ok?”

“I have no freaking clue”

“He’s not- _he’s not blinking!_ ”

“Aw, man, he’s possessed”

“I don’t think so Joan, sleep walking maybe?’

“I’ve never seen him sleep walk-”

“Well do you have any idea what’s going on with him?’

“Uh…”

“Exactly”

 

They both looked at the Manifestor, he was sitting straight up, his eyes glazed over and unseeing, just staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

 

“So..?”

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know?!”

“Well go check on him! His eyes are starting to creep me out!”

 

…..

 

Bracing themself, Joan took a deep breath and got ready to grab Thomas’ attention, their imagination half expecting the manifestor to suddenly turn his head a 360, grow fangs and jump them.

Gently they stretched their hand out to rest it on Thomas’ shoulder- The Manifestor’s head turned swiftly towards them. Joan jumped and they could hear Talyn’s short gasp at their back. When the host didn’t do anything, the Beanie lover attempted to talk to him.

 

“Hey Thomas? Can you hear me?”

In reply the Manifestor tilted his head, something akin to a confused puppy, however his eyes remained glazed and he had yet to blink.

 

“Uh, ok buddy, how bout we lay you back down so you can sleep, huh? Sound good to you?”

 

Thomas didn’t respond, so Joan took the risk and gently pushed the other’s chest down, gently lowering him back onto the bed. Apparently his body realized that the host was now laying down so his eyes closed automatically.

Joan let out a breath they didn’t realize they were holing, behind them Talyn did the same.

“That was intense”, whispered the shorter Veiwer.

“You can say that again”

“You know what? Just now he reminded me of those creepy baby dolls that when you lay them back their eyes close-“

“But when their vertical their eyes pop open”, finished Joan, “yeah, my cousins have those things, I really hate those dolls”

“Same”, muttered Talyn as they got up off the bed.

“Where are you going?’

“To lock the door and close the windows, if we caught him before he was about to sleep-walk, there’s no telling where he could go when he actually starts walking”

‘Well, you’ve got a point”, shrugged Joan as they watched their Date-mate quickly scramble to close the bedroom windows. “Uh, you want me to put on the A.C?”

”Yeah sure, it’s gonna be baking in here soon”

The Beanie lover nodded and grabbed the remote. Once the A.C was on the two snuggled together under the covers and slowly drifted off.

Only to, of course, be woken up an hour later to see Thomas sitting up and staring blankly at the wall.

 

* * *

 

Logan awoke at 5:45am on the dot.

His alarm was blaring insistently near his ear, groaning he stretched out a tired arm and smacking the infernal device until shut up. Pleased with himself the Secondary sank blissfully back into his pillows. Not five minutes later his Phone’s alarm began going off. Groaning in exasperation the Teacher sat up and checked the alert-he blinked confused for a solid second all it said was…. _Roman._

He gasped in realization and sat up, his pajamas were rumpled and his hair was a mess but he jumped out of bed anyway. Not caring at all about his disheveled state of dress, Logan made his way to Princey’s room hoping that the Royal was awake and getting ready for his meeting.  When he reached the red door, the Teacher was about to knock but an interesting conversation on the other side stopped him.

* * *

 

There was a buzzing in his ear.  
  
Well no, it wasn't exactly a buzz, but it was loud...wasn't it?  
  
Roman couldn't tell, the sound was being drowned out and muffled by a familiar, silencing white noise. As confusing and as contradictory it may have sounded, that was the only way the Prince could possibly hope to describe it.  
  
The buzzing became louder and louder until his sleep addled mind could make out that it was in fact not a buzz after all but a solid chirp- **_suddenly there was a sharp pain on the right side of his face.  
_**  
"Ow!" He shot up gripping his ear.  
  
His eyes landed on a blurry blue form, it was flying eye level and tweeting loudly at him. With an incoherent groan, the Prince flopped down unceremoniously onto his back and gently batted a certain bluebird from out of his face.  
  
"Leave me be bird, I'm exhausted"  
  
The blue creature, of course, let out an offended trill which then divulged into a series of sharp twitters.  
  
Roman groaned again, the sound was piercing and his entire being simply radiated fatigue.  
  
It was almost as if all the energy he had was sucked out- _oh right, it was_. Teleporting so recklessly yesterday with that many people was extremely draining in itself, especially given that it had rendered him unconscious. Not to mention that waking from his nap with Anxiety resulted in them eating pizza for dinner. Which the darker trait had thrown up not an hour after and the impromptu "meeting" the sides had held in the kitchen ended somewhere around 4:30 to 5:00am. In short, he just wanted to sleep forever, or at least until noon...  
  
  
Blue chirped sharply, causing the Royal to jump awake, wide eyed. He appeared to have been frozen in shock for a moment, absolutely unaware and slightly startled, to find that he had drifted off seconds prior- the bluebird was now twittering a mile a minute.  
  
Wincing tiredly, the Prince attempted to calm his feathered friend.  
  
"Blue, Blue! Slow down, I can't -I can't understand a single thing you're saying"  
  
The bird paused, then huffed, as it jumped on to the Regal trait's forehead, causing the Tertiary to cross his eyes to look at it.  
  
The bird narrowed its eyes and gave a single tweet.  
  
"Meeting?... R-right, the twins", Roman placed a hand on his eyes, his brows were furrowed with exhaustion, confusion and the makings of a headache. "What time is it right now?"  
  
Blue flew up to his nightstand and brought him his phone.  
  
Squinting at the brightness of the screen, the fanciful trait checked the time, 5:48am. Barely ten minutes left until his meeting but he just couldn't bring himself to get up. His limbs and eyelids felt like lead.  
  
"Hey Blue", he mumbled, voice gruff and sleep thick, "can you wake me in five minutes?"  
  
Blue gave him an incredulous look, twittering in agitation.  
  
"I know, I know don't worry", he paused, biting  back a yawn, "I can get ready in that time"  
  
The bird tilted it's head, if it had eyebrows, one of them would have probably been quirked quite high up at the fanciful personality's statement.  
  
Seeing as his feathered friend didn't believe him, Princey snapped his fingers and his sharp, pressed, Royal attire appeared on his dresser.  
  
"See? I jus' need a shower’s all"  
  
With that the Prince snuggled down into his pillow, eyes drooping at a rapid rate. Blue jumped back on his forehead in an attempt to scold him awake but the Royal sleepily batted it away, albeit gently and barely in it's general direction.  
  
The bluebird, having gotten fed up of being brushed aside again, pecked his hand but Roman didn't even flinch. His inherent exhaustion bypassing that of his pain, he had already drawn his quilt up to his shoulder and was turning on his side.  
  
The bluebird chirped frustratedly at him, but the Royal's eyes were almost completely closed.  
  
" 'm serious Blue...jus' five...more min..."  
  
Blue huffed at the Sleeping Prince, its feathers puffing out and ruffling in indignation.

 

* * *

  
  
Roman awoke at what felt like a second later to an _angry_ Blue chirping at him. He sat up, solidly confused for a moment before remembering the meeting. He quickly grabbed his phone from off his bed to check the time, 5:55am.

 ** _He had exactly five minutes._**  
  
The Royal stood up in a rush, only to sway and fall back onto the bed. Confused and dizzy, he placed a hand to his head and tried to find his bearings.  
  
Blue hopped up on his knee, warbling in concern.  
  
"Y-yes I'm fine-"  
  
Another warble.  
  
"I'm sure, besides it shouldn't take long, it's just one meeting with Love and Lust right?"  
  
An affirmative chirp.  
  
"Good, now I need to take a shower, or I'll never wake up"

* * *

  
  
The Teacher on the other side of the door could hear some shuffling, and a few seconds later, the sound of the shower being turned on. After what Logan could guess was three minutes, the sound of running water stopped and the shower curtain was being drawn.  
  
After some shuffling, he could hear a chirp.  
  
"See I told you, five minutes"  
  
A series of twitters followed and Logic could practically _feel_ the sarcasm in them. He chuckled quietly to himself, Blue was quite the feisty little creature-  
  
"What's wrong with my hair?" Cried Roman from the other side.  
  
A tweet was his answer.  
  
"...can you get it?"  
  
There was a flap of wings and a muffled chirp, followed by the sound of a comb going through hair.  
  
"Thank you, Blue, I could never quite get that cow-lick to stay in place"  
  
This time the Royal was met with a teasing warble.  
  
"Yes, yes, I know, what would I do without you?"  
  
A laughing twitter.  
  
"Fine, I'm going...but are you sure my hair looks ok?”  
  
There was a sharp chirp that left even Logan's ears ringing.  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm gone see?!"  
  
Roman snapped his finger and the tell-tale 'whoosh' was indicatory of the Regal trait's departure.  
  
Logic shook his head, an amused smile upon his face as he turned to head for the kitchen. Morality was still asleep and probably wouldn't be up for a while, so he took the initiative to make breakfast again. Not that he minded, he had to sub home room for the final time this morning after all, but first, why not visit his host?

 

* * *

 

"So you're saying I was sleep walking?"  
  
"Uh, well you didn't move, so not really but it was freaky as he all dude"  
  
It was currently 9:00am and the trio sat at the table discussing the morning’s incidents.

  
"Yeah it was and Logan came to check up on you by the way", mumbled Talyn from their mouthful of cereal.  
  
"Oh he did?"  
  
"Mhm", piped Joan, "he said he just wanted to know if you were still 'functioning adequately with your new onslaught of stress'. Oh and that Anxiety's doing fine, out cold but fine apparently"  
  
"Huh, well it's good that Anxiety's feeling better, that's less energy drainage for me. I guess Logan went off to teach?"  
  
"Looks like dude, by the way...how exactly does the school work?"  
  
Thomas scratched his head at Talyn's question, the multi-colour haired Veiwer was looking at him with intense curiosity and so was Joan. "Well, it's a bit hard to explain but um, the school divides its students. Normals have a completely different schedule than the other three-"  
  
"That makes sense, it prevents them from entering a subject with a teacher they can't see"  
  
"Exactly Joan, plus unlike the Normals, the other three are given a class to help better understand what they are and how they work, I think Logan teaches that class"  
  
"Wish I had that when I was in school", chuckled Talyn, "all we had was some pretty shitty sex ed"  
  
"Ugh same", groaned their date-mate, "I had to learn about the types of people online, only to find out that not everyone has the **Temps** like we do"  
  
"Oh shoot! I almost forgot about that, I'm so used to you guys having them I forgot not every Viewer has them. I mean as far as I know all Manifestors, type 2 and above, can teleport. I can but for some reason I can't seem to get my clothes to teleport with me"  
  
Joan choked on the drink they were holding, "dude that one snapchat story blew up, I can't believe you posted that"  
  
The host shrugged, laughter on his lips, "eh, what can I say, opportunities-"  
  
"Yeah, an opportunity to end up butt naked on your drive way, I thought you learned how to control it by now"  
  
Thomas laughed, "funny you should say that Talyn-"  
  
"Don't tell me...you ended up naked on your drive way?!"  
  
"I was trying to teleport to my car ok?! It's not easy!  
  
"Oh my god!" Sputtered Joan threw their laughter, "did anyone see you?!"  
  
"I don't think so? But I'm not sure I'd be trying that again"  
  
Talyn snorted, "and I thought my Temp was bad-"  
  
"Do all Temps backfire? 'Cause I remember knocking myself out once-"  
  
"I think it's an age thing Joan, or that school wouldn't last. Since some of the Teachers are manifestations, something has to tie them to the school and to their host. I don't know much but Logan's tied to the school's parking lot and he's connected to me. It's like a personal portal? From like the mindscape to the physical plane-"  
  
"But that takes energy...doesn't it? How can you sustain him being so far from you for a full school day?"  
  
The Manifestor scratched his head again, "see, that's the part I don't really get? The portal from the parking lot and Logic's room, for some reason, doesn't drain my energy much at all. Plus the Manifested Teachers get free meals and stuff so they’re not draining on their hosts. But if Logan has to stay extra time for a conference meeting or something, once it passes school hours, it drains me dry-"  
  
"Oh, so there's the catch for that Temp, it's only energy efficient for school hours!"  
  
"Probably Tal, mine just backfires if I don't use it for a while. Mr. Butt’s out Sanders here has a pretty cool one-"  
  
"Hey! I'll have you know, I've successfully made a portal once and I didn't even lose my clothes!"  
  
"Oh really?" Snarked the Beanie lover good-naturedly.  
  
"Yeah, it was for a video and it went really well!"  
  
"Uhuh...why don't I believe you?"  
  
"It's on my channel Joan!"  
  
"I can believe it's on your channel and I can believe you kept your clothes on but there's no way I'm believing that there was no back fire to that"  
  
"Uh, yeah...", Thomas ducked his head sheepish, "I couldn't move for a solid day after that, I was so tired"  
  
"Thought so", joked the Beanie lover as they stuck out their tongue.  
  
The other two burst out laughing.

 

* * *

  
  
Patton woke with a groan.  
  
Surprisingly it wasn't his alarm ringing that woke him up, instead it was the vibration of phone itself. Grabbing the buzzing device from off his nightstand, he dismissed the 7:00am alarm and turned his phone back to volume mode. The kids had probably muted it for him since he had slept through the 6:00am one. Frowning at himself, he went to take a quick cold shower, he hated waking up late.  
  
After the shower he headed out to the kitchen to find his children lounging around the dining room table.  
  
"Morning Dad!" They chorused when they saw him.  
  
"Morning kids, did you sleep well?"  
  
Various replies of "Yep!", "I did!", "me too!" Practically erupted from the kids.  
  
The Parental chuckled when he was given all the affirmatives. "Good, so what would you all like to e-  
  
"Uh, you want a sandwich Dad?" Cut Compliment nervously.  
  
Morality quirked a brow.  
  
"We already ate-", explained Pranks.  
  
The father blinked, "Logan cooked again?"  
  
"Mhm, but I don't think he realizes how much we actually eat", shrugged Steven.  
  
"Ah, so you guys ate it all?" Patton gave them a knowing look, watching in amusement as each one of their face flushed pink.  
  
"In my defense", started Pranks, "I thought there was more in the container in the fridge-"  
  
"Yeah, so did I", mumbled Compliment, followed by a small "me too" from Steven.  
  
"I was the one who checked the container in the fridge", grumbled  Fiona, "there was nothing but old gross smelly food in there from like a month ago or something"  
  
"Yeah, so I threw it out and took out the garbage but this was already after we ate the last of the food", piped Liam, wincing slightly.  
  
Patton shook his head. "It's fine Kiddos, I'm not hungry right now anyway, but next time make sure you check if there's actually good food in the containers, before you attack all the food on the table, alright?"  
  
"Yes, Dad"  
  
"Good, now, what are we going to do today? School doesn't start 'till next week for you guys right?"  
  
"Yeah, until Mrs. Hersham comes back from Maternity leave", answered Fiona.  
  
"Well I hope she had a healthy delivery, do you know what the baby is?"  
  
"Nope, no clue, she's gonna show us when she comes back... and um, I guess we can play some board games?" Shrugged Misleading Compliment.  
  
"Oh a surprise, exciting, do tell me what she had when you see her!" When Compliment and Fiona nodded, he continued with his initial question. "Alright, so board games, _hmm_ , I'm up for it but, which ones?"  
  
"Monop-"  
  
"Nope, another game"  
  
The children blinked, startled at how fast the father shot down the classic game.  
  
"What's wrong with mono-?" Steven was also quickly cut off.  
  
"Nope! Just pick another game. Pranks you have Ludo right?  Go get it, that should work fine"  
  
Not exactly sure what was going on, the Prankster went to fetch the game the Parental requested.  
  
The other children stared at Dad.  
  
He just smiled.

 

* * *

  
  
They spent an hour playing board games, sorting through the different assortments that the children brought from their rooms. Games ranging from Snakes and ladders, Sorry, to quicker games of Uno, Go fish, Dominoes, Jacks and Old Maid.  
  
The Parent and his children would have probably continued playing way into the afternoon if it weren't for the light thud on the stairs behind them. Before the father could even look behind him, Pranks and Compliment started packing up the games. Steven took the dominoes into the living room, where Fiona and Liam were now setting up the game console. Frowning, he turned around to see why the kids cleaned up so quickly.  
  
He could only guess that it was due to the noise factor that they packed up, it would make sense considering that the certain someone on the stairs tended to get headaches easily when surrounded by loud noises. With a small, yet concerned smile, he walked up to the stairway to greet the mumbling figure atop the stairs. Morality couldn't say that he wasn't surprised to see a sleepy Anxiety walking down the stairs at 8am.

The youngest personality was rubbing an eye as he trudged forward.  
  
Patton waited until he was already down to address him, just in case he startled the younger, he didn't want the emo to fall.  
  
"Good morning kiddo! How you feeling?"  
  
Instead of startling, the youngest trait simply raised his head sluggishly and began rubbing both his eyes.  "Mornin' ", he slurred, pausing a bit before answering the father's question, " 'm fine Dad jus’ sleepy, like _really_ sleepy"  
  
"Oh? And what's got you up so early in the-?"  
  
The Parental was cut off by the sound of Anxiety's stomach rumbling.  
  
"That", muttered the emo in monotone, pointing at his stomach.  
  
"Hmm, well we don't want last night repeating, so let's not have any solids, how about some smoothies?"  
  
The emo pouted, a light blush of embarrassment dusted his cheeks but he gave the father a nod none the less. "Should I ask the lil' brats what flavour they want?"  
  
Patton shook his head, a smile of amusement broad across his face.  
"Logan and the kids already ate so it's just us, what flavour do you want?"  
  
"Oh, uh strawberry I guess-?" Just then, as if to if to punctuate his sentence, the youngest side's stomach growled again and his face grew from light pink to cherry red in an instant.  
  
Morality chuckled and guided the younger to the kitchen.

* * *

  
  
"Ughh, I'm hungry", groaned Anxiety as he placed his head on the table, "but I'm so tired, what the hell?"  
  
"Well that's to be expected sport", the dark personality jumped a bit, not realizing that he had spoken out loud. Dad, thankfully, payed no mind to his flinch and continued talking, "healing takes just as much out of the injured as it does the healer and the more damages there is, the more energy it will take"  
  
"That makes sense, I guess, are the smoothies finished yet?" He couldn’t hear the blender anymore so he assumed they were finished, hopefully it wasn't a malfunction with the device.  
  
"Just about", called the father, the youngest trait sat up at that, glad that he would be getting something in his aching stomach. He watched as Dad began rummaging in the fridge, "all I need is-aha! Here we go, some mint!"  
  
Patton turned around beaming, in his hands were two strawberry smoothies with a sprig of mint at the edge.  
  
"Nice touch", commented Anxiety, "thanks Dad"  
  
The fatherly trait simply smiled and ruffled his hair, "anytime kiddo, now why don't you see what the kids are doing while I clean up the mess I made in the kitchen, hmm?"  
  
The youngest glanced at the sink and took slow steps back. Quite the amount of dishes were piled up in the sink and there was milk and sugar everywhere- "Uh yeah, sure thing"  
  
Before Patton could even blink, the dark trait was already in the living room. It wasn't that the emo didn't want to help, it was just that he didn't want to help, simple right?  
  
In the living room, Pranks, Compliment and the vine siblings were battling each other in a two on two match of Splatoon, while Steven was quietly setting dominoes on the floor. Feeling sorry for the only one not playing video games, Anxiety opted to help the embodiment of Imagination but to his surprise, the child didn't want any help. He wanted to see how many dominoes he could set up before they all toppled over. This of course, lead the emo back to square one, now sitting on the couch once again watching the kids playing Splatoon.  
  
Every now and again his eyes would drift from off the screen and onto the floor in Steven's direction. The boy seemed to be having fun, even though his face was one of deep concentration. The entire floor was almost covered with colourful dominoes and since no one on the couches were allowed to touch the ground, quite an impressive amount of space was filled in. It was obvious that the boy was creating an image but for the life of him, Anxiety could not figure out what it was.  
  
He looked back towards the TV screen again, the other kids were now playing Mario Party. O _dd, he didn't even hear them switch the game._

 

 **Shaking his head quietly, he watched them play.  
  
  
** His eyes soon drifted towards the floor again, now the dominoes almost took the whole room. Steven didn't appear to care, he simply kept placing. Anxiety watched as the Imagination incarnate stuck his tongue out in concentration and carefully set another domino. Mindlessly sipping his smoothie, the emo continued to watch the kids. It was nice, peaceful even and since the pangs of hunger had waned, his stomach didn't feel like it was digesting itself anymore, so he counted that as a plus.  
  
  
Pranks seemed to be winning the game so far but the emo wasn't too sure, the kids had stopped talking, heck there was no noise except for the game itself, so he couldn't really gauge who was in the lead. He would have questioned the children's silence but he knew that they tended to get quiet when they were serious. Though he didn't see it, just like before, he could tell they switched the game again because this time they were racing and the iconic Rainbow Road was hard to miss, even though its vivid colors were all blurring together.  
  
Turning away from the brightness to avoid a headache, Anxiety refocused on Steven, who was all the way at the end of the room, with barely a foot of space left and even less dominoes. The colors on the last few dominoes where bright and blurry, so instead of deciphering the 'blurred code', he focused on the number of dominoes the boy had left. He counted them as the child placed. **_One...Two. . . Three. . . . Four.  .  .  . Five.  
_**

* * *

  
  
"Dad!" Someone whisper yelled. _Steven?_  
  
"Yeah, _shh_ , don't worry I got it. You're lucky I got here in time or it would have fallen"  
  
"Would it break?"  


_Would what break?_  
  
  
"No, probably not but you would have had to start all over again, it would have knocked over all your dominoes"  
  
"Is he gonna be ok? "  
  
"Yeah, he'll be fine"  
  
  
_Who were they talking about?_  
  
  
"Should we take him to bed?" This voice, it was a girl this time.  
  
  
"I, think that's a good idea, Fiona but I can't carry him from here, wake him up for me, sweetheart, I'll take him to bed"  
  
"Sure thing Dad-"  
  
The voices he heard suddenly disappeared and he was left with an oddly muted ringing in his ears.  
  
"-Xiety"  
  
Something was shaking his shoulder.  
  
"Anxiety!"  
"Hey wake up sleepyhead!"  
  
_Oh. It was him they were talking about. **He fell asleep?  
**_  
  
"Come on, Dad's gonna take you upstairs to bed. You just gotta get up for a bit"  
  
The emo groaned, he was caught somewhere between sleep and wake and his surroundings were muffled, thick, like wet cotton.  
  
_He was still being shaken.  
  
_ He groaned again, he didn't like the shaking, it made everything in the wet cottony-thickness tilt, not a good feeling.  
  
"Don't groan at me mister, I wouldn't have to shake you if you'd wake up"  
  
She had a point.  
  
With some effort, he slowly pried his eyes opened. The thick cottony feeling gave way to skewed, exhausted vision and a dull throb at the back of his head. For a solid moment he couldn't recall why he was in the couch. Blinking at the blurry assortment of colors, he rubbed his eyes to hopefully get them to focus.  
  
Dad was saying something to him but his brain wasn't registering sound for a second.  
  
"-ey, kiddo you hear me in there?" Chuckled Morality as he waved a hand in front of the darker trait's face.  
  
Anxiety didn't pay much attention to him, instead he was a bit preoccupied with the fact that his hearing was fluctuating for some reason.  
  
"...jeez Dad, what did you put in that smoothie?"  
  
_Smoothie? What Steven talking about? What smooth-?  
_ He shot up into a sitting position, a spark clicked and his sleep addled brain finally caught up with him. He began looking around the couch for the-  
  
"Hey, easy Sport, I got it", true to his word, the Parental held up the glass that he had been drinking the smoothie out of. "You good there bud?"  
  
The emo nodded, stifling a yawn as he rubbed his eyes again, "yeah, just couldn't remember how I got to the couch. I didn't even remember falling asleep, like at all, s'kinda trippy"  
  
The three around him chuckled.

 

"Hey where are the other three?" Asked the dark trait after a moment.  
  
"They went to find a camera so they could record the dominoes when they fell"  
  
Anxiety blinked and looked down, slightly startled to see the entire living room floor covered in bright dominoes.  
  
Steven looked at him seriously before giggling, "wait, don't tell me, you forgot about the dominoes?"  
  
The emo's face coloured and he cleared his throat embarrassed. "Uh, yeah, for some reason I did. Thing is, I know I saw you finish it but...You know what? I'm starting to question what exactly that fairy did to me-"  
  
"Nothing fishy I promise", cut in the Prominent, he didn't want the younger to start spiralling into some unsavoury thoughts about Fairy Godmother. "It smelt a lot like mint though"  
  
Fiona started laughing and Anxiety rolled his eyes at the pun. He was well aware of the mint paste they used when he had to scrub it off his body in the shower the day before.  
  
....  
  
_He saw a flash of white...a building?  
  
A Thunderstorm was approaching.  
  
He couldn't hear a sound but he was watching as the blue sky's turned infinitely more grey, the clouds were rolling at an alarming speed.  
  
The hue grew darker, darker.... **it turned pitch black-**  
_  
  
**There was a hand on his shoulder.  
  
**  
"Hey champ, let's get you up to bed ok?"  
  
The youngest trait blinked, he must have zoned out because Dad and all the kids were looking at him with concern practically written on their faces.  
  
"Y-yeah, ok"  
  
They all winced at his voice, all of a sudden it was heavy, laced with exhaustion and dryness.  
  
Patton help him climb over the back of the couch, since there was no way for him to pass without setting off the dominoes. Compliment was thoughtful enough to bring Anxiety some water, to which the emo thanked him and downed the glass with exceptional speed.  
  
"You want some more?" He asked, when the dark trait handed him back the glass.  
  
"Nah kid, I'm good-"  
  
"Alright, bed time then sport", the Moral trait's eyes no longer held that intense concern that they had only moments prior. It was still there just not as much, which the youngest personality was very thankful for.  
  
"Yeah, sure thing Dad. I'll probably fall asleep standing at this point if I don't"  
  
"Want us to take you?" Joked Pranks  
  
"Yeah, we can tuck him in too!" Continued Steven.  
  
Anxiety paused.  
  
"Ok, what did I do to you brats for you to be messing with me like this?"  
  
"You drove us off Rainbow Road-"  
  
"Alright, fair enough. Guess I'm getting tucked in, go figure"  
  
"I can read you a bed time story too, y'know", started Liam.  
  
The dark trait looked appalled.  
  
"Dad!"  
  
"Sorry kiddo, looks like you got into this mess on your own", chuckled Patton as he watched his other kids pull the emo up the stairs. The look of betrayal in his eyes was priceless.

 

* * *

  
  
After about ten minutes Patton realized he couldn't hear any laughter, giggling or disgruntled mumbling, so he finished up what he was doing in the kitchen and headed up the stairs. Just as he reached the hallway to Anxiety's room, the children were carefully exiting the emo's black door.  
  
_"Shhh!"_  
  
Rolling his eyes, the Parental placed a finger to his lips in answer, tip-toed towards the door and quietly poked his head in. He bit his tongue to keep from chuckling, Anxiety was sound asleep under his comforter, obviously tucked in by the kids. On his nightstand was a story book he recognised as Liam's. It seems the children were quite serious with their previous claims.  
  
Snickering, Morality, entered and went to fix the comforter properly around the sleeping personality, lest the emo overheat. Doing so caused Anxiety to shift and stir. Patton paused. When the dark trait stilled and did not wake, the father quickly fixed what was left and moved to head out the door, but before he could, an impulse took over and drew him towards the younger to brush the bangs from his face.

The dark trait unconsciously leaned to the touch.

  
"Sweet dreams, Virgil"  
  
Smiling softly, Dad gently closed the door and left his strange dark son to get the sleep he obviously needed. He had a feeling that the emo would be back to himself in no time.

 

* * *

 

Stepping out of the quiet, stuffy feeling of the Homeroom and into his 8:00am class was quite refreshing. His class was always much more excited and talkative in the mornings compared to these ones, but then again, Homeroom started at 7:00am.  
  
The moment he stepped into class, Logan's students greeted him eagerly. Many of them were inquiring about his youngest counterpart's health and he gave them a grateful smile.  
  
"Good morning everyone, let's settle down shall we? I'd like to thank you for your thoughtfulness in creating those lists. We did look at them and a long with...a friend, we managed to figure something out. Currently my youngest counterpart is recovering quite well, though he did tell me over dinner to thank each of you for him"  
  
A series of shouts and applauses filled the class.  
  
Yes, his class was far more exciting than Homeroom.

 

* * *

 

Roman groaned, he would kill for either excitement or the opportunity to go back to bed.  
  
What was supposed to be a short meeting with Love and Lust turned into an entire conference as the twins kept putting it off to offer others a chance to explain a particular problem or elaborate on an idea they had for something completely different from their current meeting.  
  
As honourable as the Twins may seem, at this point the Prince wanted nothing more than to wipe the innocent smiles of their faces and make them suffer with him. Honestly he felt more and more exhausted as the meeting- ehem meetings- wore on.  
  
With an internal sigh, Princey sucked it up and smiled, chatting with and listening to the other emotions as if he weren't dead inside. He was a Prince after all.

 

* * *

 

The Morning had gone quite quickly, enough so that in a blink the trio found it to be noon.

 After a hearty lunch, Joan and Talyn left to pick up Leo, leaving Thomas enough time to get things for their weekend ready.  
  
He made sure to grab the last of his pills as soon as the date-mates were gone, with the thought that if he took them now he'd be able to grab a quick nap before Leo arrived so he wouldn't look like a sleep deprived zombie. However, when he went to open the cap-  
  
"Shoot! Where did it go?"  
  
A single tablet fell and got away from him.  
  
After a futile minute or two of looking, the Host gave up on his search and went for the other pills. Shaking the bottle lightly, he was surprised to find that three tablets landed in his palm instead of two. Confused, he looked into the container to find it completely empty. Shrugging he downed all three, it made no sense to waste that extra one, besides it was the last day for him to take them anyway.  
  
  
With that done, he set to go about doing the minor things like dishes before sweeping, mopping and organizing.  
  
  
By the time he finished it was 1:43pm. Usually he'd frown at how slow he was moving but he chalked it up to the pills kicking in and the fact that it was hard to sweep or mop with an injured hand. He rushed up the stairs to take a shower, Joan and Talyn would be back in a half an hour with Leo. Considering everything this week, a twenty minute nap on the couch would do the Manifestor some good.

 

* * *

  
  
He finished his shower, got dressed and had made it to the top of his stairs at 1:59pm. All that was left to do was to wait and nap.  
  
With a yawn he descended down the stairway, his vision had gotten blurry in the shower but he already knew that was the side effect of the pills. Two pills usually, but the addition of the third made it a challenge to see, not that it mattered to him, the couch- only less than a meter away- was calling his name.  
  
  
_He slowly stepped down and about quarter way-  
  
He misjudged the placement of his foot.  
  
At 2:00pm on the dot.  
  
Thomas Sanders_.  
  
**F E L L.  
**  
  
He didn't have the time to cry out as his body crashed forward. All he could recall was a sharp pain, instant dizziness...and everything went black.

* * *

 

There was a field in front of him, it was like something straight out of the Lion king. Wide view and tall grass, though yellow not green- _was it wheat?_  
  
**"...xiety!"  
"Hey Anxiety!"  
**  
The youngest personality spun around, the field was suddenly gone now - no wait, it looked green but with an open cave of some sort that had water in the middle. There were rocks along the sides of the cave, all solid and black except for one small peace that held a simple wooden ladder. The ladder wasn't tall by any means but you could climb right from out the water onto the gray shore and back into the grass field.  
  
The proportions didn't make sense at all to the dark trait, there was no way the cave could have a shore unless it was tilted and or leaning back sideways. Curious, and slightly confused, the emo tried to get a closer look at the cave, only to suddenly realize he was on a cliff.  
  
"Gahh!" He exclaimed, pin wheeling backwards. He ended up landing flat on his bottom, a good few feet from the edge. Placing a hand on his chest, Anxiety took a breath, in an attempt to calm his still rapidly beating heart. Now that he was at a relatively safe distance from the edge of the cliff and his fear had waned a bit, he shakily stood up.  
  
Being on a cliff made sense, that would explain how he was seeing the cave and its odd shore- now that he was thinking about it, the shore wasn't so odd, the cave was tilted? And the proportions correct, the only weird thing now was the cliff. Where did it come from?  
  
**"...xiety!"  
"Hey Anxiety!"  
**  
The dark personality turned around against the sound of his name, but this time when he did, he could see the others. The other three and the kids were there, all in swim wear and holding bags with various swimming supplies.  
  
The children waved at him and then ran straight into the field, utterly disappearing from sight. The emo stood up stood straight in alarm, he couldn't see hide nor hair of the little brats. When he looked back, he found that Logic and Princey had vanished too but before he could panic, Dad waved him over.  
  
"Keep up there, champ. The cave is just around the bend!"  
  
Though obviously confused at the Parental's words, Anxiety quickly dashed over to Morality, not wanting to get left behind. He followed Patton through the tall grass for what only felt like a second and suddenly he was in front of the little brown ladder on the gray shore of the cave. Looking up he could see the cliff he had almost fell off of  but looking around him he had absolutely no clue how they got down to the cave shore at all, let alone how they had gotten there so quickly.  
  
If he was going to question it however, no one would know because in that moment he was splashed with water. The youngest personality reeled back and quickly wiped his face with his hand, glaring at a certain Royal laughing in the water.  
  
"Come on Anxiety! You're already wearing swimming clothes, just jump in already and stop baking in the sun, you'll end up looking like a lobster!"  
  
True to the Prince's word, he was now in dark gray swim shorts and a faded black T-shirt. Blinking he looked around, almost frantically, trying to figure out where the heck his hoodie and black jeans had suddenly disappeared to-  
  
"Why don't you head in the water kiddo? We've only got three hours to play around before we have to get back"  
  
Patton was spreading a towel on the shore, and on that towel was everyone's bag and his hoodie. Figuring the father would take care of his stuff, he gave a small nod to the Prominent and slowly waded in.  
  
A mix of "yay's!" and a "finally!" erupted from the kids and the Roman in the water. Anxiety may have not known what exactly was going on but there was no way he was going to miss splashing the Prince in the face in return.  
  
This, of course, started a splash fight between them and the children gladly joined in for an 'all for one'. Unfortunately, they were so caught up in their fun that someone ended up splashing Logan and the book he was reading.  
  
**Everyone froze.**

  
The Secondary glared. His steely gaze locked each of them in their petrified state as he took off his glasses, handed Patton his book and in one fell swoop, entered the water, stuck out an arm and splashed everyone.  
  
"Well, that seemed like a suitable punishment for my book, was it not?"  
  
Still frozen in shock, the children, the Prince and the emo looked from Logan to each other and then back at the logical trait.  As if on cue, they all began smirking.  
  
The Teacher's eyes widened and he took a slow step bac-  
  
_'WPPSH!'_

* * *

  
  
Patton laughed as a soggy Logan washed up on shore. His hair was matted and gray, ash-like sand stuck against his face.  
  
"And this is the retaliation I must suffer for the defence of my book?"  
  
"Sorry Lo, but you did challenge all of them at the same time", chuckled the Parental.  
  
"Hmm, perhaps that is where I faulted, would you care to assist me?"  
  
Logic held out his hand, behind him Morality could see the others shaking their heads and making 'X' formations with their arms- he grabbed the Teacher's hand, "sure"  
  
The look of absolute betrayal on each of their faces was priceless in the father's eyes.

* * *

  
  
The all-out splash war continued for what felt like hours, until Patton's daughter shouted for all of them to stop. Anxiety, who was the closest to the little girl swam up to her.  
  
"What's up Squirt?"  
  
"My earring! One of them is gone, I think it fell during the splash war-"  
  
The little girl was cut off when Morality swam over to them, having overheard, he chastised the child gently. "Now sweetheart, didn't I tell everyone to remove their accessories and hand them to me?"  
  
"I know! I thought I did" mumbled the girl with a pout, "I handed you my chain but I forgot my earrings, now one of them is gone for good"  
  
"Never fear, my dear! I will gladly search for it!" The dramatic exclamation coming from none other than Roman caused all the children to laugh.  
  
Anxiety rolled his eyes at his counterpart.  
  
"Really Princey? You never get tired of the dramatics do you?"  
  
"Hey dramatics makes for laughter and laughter keeps things fun, besides I don't see you coming up with any ideas-"  
  
"Alright, alright!" Mocked the emo, waving a dismissive hand, "don't get your swim trunks in a twist-" he chuckled at the royal 's affronted noise, "you look for it over there and I'll check over here"  
  
This time it was the Prince who rolled his eyes, "fine but just for the record, I thought of this first"  
  
"Whatever you say Princey!"  
  
  
The two dived down.

* * *

  
  
Anxiety was surprised to see how clear the water was, a few fishes swam in front of him but their forms were too blurry to make out, not like he'd know the species of fish any way.  
  
He dove down deeper to the sandy bottom, the surface was a good few feet above him but he was oddly calm about that for some reason. Scraping the sand with his hands he searched for the missing earing. On the opposite side he could see the Prince doing the same thing, the Royal's white and red swim shorts were hard to miss underwater.  
  
  
They came up a few minutes later panting.  
  
  
It was Anxiety who breached the surface first.  
  
"Did you find it?"  
  
"No, I guess we should look a little closer to where we were all splashing about, the earing couldn't have gone far, there's no current"  
  
"Fair enough, lead the way Princey"  
  
"Gladly!"  
  
  
Diving down again, they scoured the sandy floor until Roman spotted it. He nudged Anxiety with his elbow to grab the darker's attention and then pointed at the single speck of gold in a vast of white. Swimming forward the Royal was quick to grab the earring, giving the younger trait a thumbs up and receiving one in return both of them swam up to the surface.  
  
"Hey! We found it! Exclaimed Roman. He swam over Morality and gave him the piece of jewelry. The father headed back to shore to place it with its other half in safe keeping.  
  
Meanwhile Anxiety was biting his lip to remain quiet, Fiona was effectively swimming closer and closer to the unsuspecting Prince. When she had the chance she pounced, causing the Royal to yelp and flail around in the water.

Unable to help it, the dark trait burst out laughing, Roman's startled face was just too funny not to laugh. After the Royal managed to get the girl off him, with some difficulty, the other children proposed they all race, from one side of the cave to the other.  
  
Roman being Roman wanted to add stakes and of course it ended up with the loser doing the winner's dishes for a week. Anxiety, who was always up for messing with the Prince, agreed to the deal.  
  
The race started-  
  
**"Hey!"  
**  
The sky suddenly grew darker, like early morning to late afternoon type darker.  
He was going to ask what time it was but then he got splashed in the face.  
  
Wiping the water off, he looked around...only to find everyone gone.  
  
**"-xiety!"  
  
** He turned around to see Patton and the others on the shore, sighing in relief he made his way over to them. He must've just missed them the first time right?  
  
**_"Anxiety!"_**  
  
The ground began shaking and everyone scrambled to maintain their footing. Logan and Roman helped the kids, while Dad started handing out everyone's towels.  
  
There was another tremor and suddenly the dark trait found himself flat on him bottom. He blinked, he was completely dry and in his regular clothing-  
  
**_  
"Hey Anxiety! It's time to get up!"  
_**  
  
Princey was smirking, with his usual Roman charm but no indication that what was going on was abnormal. The Royal was suddenly holding an arm out to him but the other he held Fiona on his hip, the little girl was giggling.  
  
  
**_"Come on silly! Dad's got food waiting!"  
  
_**  
Morality's daughter was obviously speaking to him but her voice was suddenly distorted, as if he were hearing it muffled...through thick wet cotton.  
  
Roman above him chuckled and reached to pull the dark trait onto his feet. "Had fun in the water Ursula?"  
  
"Hey, I have you know Ursula's an extremely underrated villain!" He smirked, "and she happens to be one of my favourites"  
  
This caused the Regal trait to laugh, "I'm sure she is, but you did enjoy today right?"  
  
Anxiety shrugged nonchalantly, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket.  
  
"Oh come on! Admit it, you know you had fun today!"  
  
The emo chuckled.  
  
"Yeah Princey, it was fun"  
  
"Good! Now let's go, I'm starving!"  
  
With that Roman slid Fiona from his hip and onto his back, running forward to make her laugh. Shaking his head, with a fond smile, the dark trait followed them through the grass field...

**_Brown eyes slowly slid open.  
_ **

 

* * *

  
  
"Finally! I was wondering if you'd ever wake up"  
  
Anxiety blinked up at Fiona, the child was at the edge of his bed holding a platter with a cup on it.  
  
"Mornin' Squirt"  
  
The girl rolled her eyes, "more like afternoon, it's almost 2:00pm"  
  
Frowning the youngest personality reached for his phone, 1:58pm.  
  
"Huh, I didn't expect to sleep that long"  
  
"Well it took me a while to wake you up"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Uh-huh and you were smiling in your sleep-"  
  
"Was I?"  
  
"Mhm! What were you dreaming about anyway?"  
  
Anxiety bit his lip and furrowed his brows, in concentration.  
"Um...swimming I think? It's a bit blurry but I remember all of us going out swimming. We had a splash war, some races, the whole deal. There was something about your earring? Not really sure, but me and Princey had to look for it underwater"  
  
"Well, did you find it?"  
  
"Yeah, I think we did"  
  
"Cool, sounds like you had a good dream"  
  
" _For once_ ", mumbled the emo to himself as he stretched, groaning in relief as his muscles loosened and relaxed. "So, Dad sent you after me?"  
  
"Yeah, he was getting a bit worried so he sent me with some tea just in case you weren't feeling too good. He said that if you can handle it lunch is downstairs"  
  
"Oh, ok cool. I think I'm good to go for lunch, I'm not dizzy or anything so that counts right?"  
  
Fiona shook her head and made her way to the door with the platter.  
  
The dark personality meanwhile, scootched to the end of the bed and prepared to stand up, but the moment he did-  
  
"Gahh!"  
  
Fiona quickly spun around and on pure instinct, dropped the platter and rushed forward.  
  
"Anxiety!"  
  
The teacup shattered and its contents spilled, coating the floor in liquid brown.

* * *

 

In the kitchen, Patton, Liam and the others heard Fiona's distressed cry, but before Morality could even move, he was bombarded with a wave of immense pain. Groaning, he gripped his temple and took a stumbling step forward. His vision grew blurry as he attempted to take another...but that was as far as he got, everything went black.

 

* * *

  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
"Yes Valerie, I'm fine, it's just a headache"  
  
Stubbornly Logan reached up to write on the board, the blue clock above him read 2:00pm...then the numbers began blur. Wincing he took a step back and placed a hand to his head. The room began spinning and the last thing he could recall was Valerie screaming his name.

* * *

  
  
His headache was getting worse. Every sound caused the dull throb to increase and he wanted nothing more than to leave. He had been in the conference room all day and currently it was almost 2:00pm.  
  
"Just one little presentation Roman, you can do that. When it's over you can go home, take a nap and then explain to the others what plans were discussed. Just one little presentation", his self-pep-talk helped only somewhat. Though a presentation shouldn't be too hard right?  
  
"-ince Roman"  
  
Shoot, he almost missed his queue.  
  
Standing up, he immediately felt dizzy but he ignored it in an attempt to get to the stage. Unfortunately for him, Geoffrey noticed.  
  
"Are you alright M'lord?"  
  
"I'm fine Geoffrey-", the Prince waved a dismissive hand as he kept moving, hoping the Vassal would drop it.  
  
"Are you certain highness? You look quite pale"  
  
But things were never that easy.  
  
"It's just a headache Geoffrey, nothing to concern yourself with-"  
  
"M'lord!"  
  
Roman rolled his eyes, a bad choice really, the room was already spinning around him.  
  
"I'm fi-"  
  
He had made it onto the stage, but for some reason, he was suddenly out of breath. Before the Royal could even panic, his vision began blurring rapidly and everything all but lurched. In the spinning room now surrounding him, the darkness took him quickly and without a choice.  
  
"Prince Roman!"

* * *

  
  
In Thomas' apartment, the manifestor lay prone at the bottom of his stairs.  
  
His eyes were closed and his form crumpled and adding to the increasingly alarming sight, was the rapidly growing pool of blood that surrounded his head. From beneath the fringe of his hairline was a gash from which his blood was steadily trickling through.

* * *

  
  
In Anxiety's room Fiona held the unconscious emo in her lap. She had barely managed to catch him before he fell. She had no idea what to do, nor did she know what caused the darker trait to have passed out in the first place.

 

* * *

  
  
In the kitchen Liam mirrored his sister, his Dad as unconscious as his older 'brother'. Steven, Pranks and Misleading Compliment rushed out of their rooms to see what was going on. Only to gasp at the state of their father.

 

* * *

  
  
At the school, Valerie held Logan in much the same position. It was through pure frantic instinct that she had managed to shove her books onto a nearby student's desk to catch Logan when he fell. Granted it was more her lowering the both of them to the ground rather than a catch but at least the Teacher wasn't injured.  
  
Still in panic she reached for her phone from her back pocket and dialled Thomas' number. The other students were crowding around them but she payed little mind to them, far too busy trying to contact the manifestor. What was terrifying her the most was the fact that the Host himself wasn't picking up. Thomas always picked up, especially after two calls.  
  
**_She called five._**

 

* * *

  
Unbeknownst to anyone in the mindscape, after the dominoes had been knocked down and recorded, Steven began setting them up again. However, he had only managed to place five of them before he was called by Patton to eat and distracted by Pranks and Compliment.  
  
In all the commotion those forgotten five dominoes, like Thomas and his sides, fell...  
  
**_One.  
  
By.  
  
One_**.  
  
  
  
**_"If he keeps going that way, he will fall"_**

 

* * *

 

**AN:// Hey guys, it's Innerwork's 1 year anniversary!**

**So this chap...Do ya love me or hate me? ;)**

**Also in case you're wondering, this is just the beginning, when I mean slow burn, I meant were all going to slowly burn in the hell that I will unleash. Heh.**

**Anyway I was going to give one of my "Storytime" sections but I think that can wait till next chap. Speaking of, I cut out Roman's  and Logan's pieces because this chap got way too long. Whoops ^_^'. Next chap you get to see their view and the panic that revolves around them. (See, I was nice to Virgil this time)**

**Now onto something - more like someone very important- we have a new member up front at the train. This dude has legit saved me from a math meltdown and is probably the reason you guys got such a long chap today. He's an awesome friend and a really good teacher too! So without further ado meet David the Traveller.**

**He'll mostly be seen in and around the Screamers section and with the Cryers, feel free to say hi, he's our new Councillor and trolley guy, he's got refreshments and advice.**

**Glad to have you aboard!**

**And now...**

**COMMENT OF THE...YEAR lol:**

**TheReferencer on Chapter 11 Mon 27 Mar 2017 10:29AM**

**"The Dad jokes in this make me so happy omg**

**And the fact that they're coming from LOGIC!!**

**Me: Oh gods is the blue thing something going after Anx**

**LOL NOPE IT'S THE LITTLE BIRD**

**That was sneaky I like it XD**

**"How sic am I...?"**

**Same, Anx, same**

**Honestly though, Morality needs to learn to take care of himself. He needs to take care of himself so that he can take care of others. It's a lesson I'm still learning.**

**Everyone is basically falling down like dominoes**

**...oh crap"**

**So as you can see this was theorised from the beginning by my theorist Ref. Funny thing is they didn't expect this at all, didn't you? XD**

**That's all for now, so tomorrow we can enjoy the new sander sides vid! Please leave a comment on this chap, I can't stress how much seeing your comments and kind words has meant to me while I was "on break"(I still don't have a phone so bear with meh ;_;). You guys encouraged me not to give up and keep going. So thank you and I want to hear more from all of you.**

**See y'all in the comments section ;)**


	26. Simultaneously

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lmao, sorry i'm late the bus broke down XD
> 
> Check the AN:// y'all important stuff is down there

* * *

* * *

Roman bit at his lip, the teleportation affected him way more than it should have. He just barely managed to keep from swaying too much by quickly sitting in his assigned seat, but even then he still felt as if he was rocking on his feet. A sudden jolt and the metallic taste of copper in his mouth proved to him exactly how out of it he was. Hiding his flinch, he grounded himself with the pain and focused on the echoing fanfare playing in the background. The meeting would start the moment the trumpets quieted and he was not looking forward to it at all.

  
Groaning internally, the Royal forced himself to swallow the blood that pooled behind his sealed lips, should in case he needed to speak or smile, of course. _It was surprisingly viscous_. He grimaced but it had to be done, the thought of wiping it on his pristine white suit was completely ludicrous to the regal trait. It took roughly about two minutes for the blood to stop refilling his mouth, leaving Princey to question just how hard had he bitten his lip-  
  
A sharp pull on his ears alerted him of his queue. Making a mental note to thank a certain bluebird, he cleared his throat- _licked at his teeth one more time just in case_ \- and addressed all in the room.  
  
"Good morning everyone, I'm glad that you've all made it here today..."

* * *

 

After informing his class that Anxiety was indeed recovering, Logan jumped straight into the lesson.  
  
"Now that you have your Viewer Ranks and Partial Classes, it's time for the Manifestor Types. I had mentioned that the Partials and the Manifestors shared a similar system, with a few differences between the two, of course"  
  
Turning to the board the Teacher began listing on the board:  
  
**1st Type: 4+ personalities  
2nd Type: 3 personalities  
3rd Type: 2 personalities  
4th Type: 1 personality**  
  
"I presume this is rather straightforward?"  
  
The class gave an affirmative.  
  
"Good. Now, my host is a 1st Type Manifestor, which means he has four or more personalities. As you can see there's a plus sign for the 1st Types, while it does mean additional personalities it also means something else. This here, is one of the differences you may have not known between a Manifestor and a Partial. Manifestors have **_both_** Personalities and 'Emotions' "

* * *

  
  
Around the council table Prince Leo, Prince Dominic and Princess Valerie were there along with Advisor Deliah, each giving him their own quick worried glances when they thought he wasn't looking.  
  
Roman sighed, those four would be watching him like hawks until they left. He honestly couldn't blame them, though he sorely hopped they wouldn't see through his exhausted facade.  
  
The other crowned Royals had already travelled back to their kingdoms the day prior, as did Zenma and her council. Desna nor Charles were seen though Geoffrey was there by the stage. Surprisingly Fairy Godmother was there as well, she sat near Princess Valerie and every so often she'd shoot the Prince knowing looks that made him pale and look away. He was determined to see this stupid meeting-ahem meetings through, even if it rendered him unconscious.  
  
Currently there was a Royal on the aforementioned stage. Princey didn't know his name but did recognize the male's crest, a duke of Prince Dominic's kingdom. In particular one of the Dukes that worked for trades between the Fifth Kingdom and the Main Kingdom.  
  
Thankfully, Prince Dominic was there himself, so things went rather smoothly. Though if you asked Prince Roman, the whole procession was quite long and tedious, making the pounding in his head all the more torture.  
  
By the time the Fifth Kingdom Prince was done and the trades were set up in proper and agreeable conditions, Roman was honestly considering calling off any further meetings for the year.

* * *

  
  
"Emotions are the loose terms given to aspects or figments with a purpose in one's mindscape. Bear in mind that an Emotion can, though rare, graduate from, well, an emotion to a personality but a Personality cannot downgrade to an emotion."  
  
"Excuse me sir?"  
  
"Yes Philla?"  
  
"What's the difference between an Aspect and a Figment?"  
  
"Well, generally they mean the same thing but figments don't have a solid form and thus remain in the mindscape. Meanwhile, an aspect, is the proper term for an Emotion that can be manifested and like Personalities, they do of course resemble their host. Do note that Aspects are usually weaker than Personalities and thus are often protected by their stronger counterparts-"  
  
"So what, if we accidentally mess with an Aspect were gonna piss off a very over protective Personality?"  
  
"A little blunt, but yes, more than likely Mika"  
  
"Oh shit"  
  
The classed laughed at the Asian girl's outburst, but we're quickly quieted when Logan started up again.  
  
"Partials do not have these Emotions as their mindscape is limited, they have to share one space with their Host after all. Personalities are not emotions, even though they may encompass more. Take me for an example, Logic is not an Emotion nor a feeling but it does encompass knowledge, is this understood?

A series of ‘yes’s’, and ‘yes sir’s’ filled the room.

  
"Alright, let's get back to the things we know, the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary personalities etc. and then the ancillaries-you do know what the ancillaries are right?"  
  
Jerome raised his hand.  
  
"The ones that help the Prominent right?"  
  
"That is correct, a little fun fact for you all, most, if not all ancillaries tend to be figments. Now, on to the real lesson, 'how to tell a personality type'. For this I can simply show you-"  
  
Logan closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they were glowing a piercing navy blue. His aura was now clearly visible and each and every student starred in fascination.  
  
"As you can see, my Core aura is double banded, thus signifying-", the teacher paused, a sea of confused students were staring at him. "Oh my, it seems like it's time for a quick briefing on aura"  
  
  
He quickly drew a circle with three inner rings. He then labelled them: outer, inner and core.  
  
"Alright, so the Outer Core layer is for any means of expression. For example, anger, joy, dominance, or any strong emotion. This particular layer, if the emotion is strong enough, can even be felt by Normals. This layer can also be hidden, though it depends on the level of control the owner has over their aura"

Logic then moved the chalk to the second ring.

"This is the Inner Core layer, this holds  
your deep feelings, your lies, your energy level, and your overall health. There's not much to say here"

With that he moved down to the final ring.

"Here is the Core center layer, were you find a personality type, and power level- which is the amount of control the personality possess. All Viewers in this class should be able to see past the outer aura into the core center. This is why it was mandatory for us to check your Ranks.

* * *

 

Everything in him ached, a deep seated fatigue settled within all his joints and to top it off, his headache was progressively getting worse. Groaning, Roman crossed his arms and pillowed his pounding head on them. The meeting had finally called for a fifteen minute intermission and by the gods he was taking advantage of it.  
  
No one else was in the room so the Prince had no qualms about taking a small nap in the conference room-  
  
A chirp caused him to lift his head, Blue was flying in front of him, a small water bottle clutched in its talons. The bluebird chirped at him again, inviting the tired Royal to drink from it. Mumbling a small "thanks", Princey downed the water rather quickly, not realizing just how thirsty he was until then.  
  
With the bottle now empty, he slumped down and placed its still cool plastic against his forehead. It offered a small relief-one that almost made him regret not pouring some of the cold water on his face-almost. The pounding in his head had subsided into a dull throb and Roman had no doubt that dehydration definitely had something to so with the headache.  
  
He groaned when the bottle became warm from his body heat. Pouting, he willed the traitorous plastic away, but when he tried, he was met with a brief sharp pain in the back of his head. He groaned again, placing his head back down in defeat.  
  
Blue came up and nuzzled its cheek on his, giving him a concerned warble.  
  
" 'm fine Blue, just feeling a little worn, that's all-"  
  
"Then maybe you should have been resting more, your highness, hmm?"  
  
The Prince tensed, he knew that voice very well. It held a certain tone, one that told him that the fairy behind him was none too pleased.  
  
He turned to face her, pasting the best disarming smile he could manage, "Fairy Godmother, I-"  
  
"Save it my Prince-", the Fae held her hand up and Roman flinched. "I had no qualms in helping your youngest yesterday, nor did I have any helping you on the premise that you'd both be getting your proper rest. And yet here you are with very little energy and I presume even less strength, holding a meeting of all things!"  
  
If you asked him, Roman couldn't tell you where it came from, maybe it was because he was tired or because every word she spoke made the pounding in his head worse but a sudden impulse overtook him- and he was angry.  
  
"With all due respect, Fairy Godmother", started the Royal, his words slipping through his lips on a whisper, holding far more acid than they ever should have. "I can't just drop things like this because I'm tired, I have people who depend on me and a Kingdom to run, what kind of Prince do you think I am?"  
  
The Fairy, to her credit, didn't snap back. Instead she spoke just as soft, a scathing hiss in the muted volume of the conference room.  
  
"You want to know what kind of Prince I think you are? Very well then, your highness. I think, that you're an extremely stubborn and very pompous Prince who is running his Kingdom well, but running himself into the ground in the process. And if he continues with his self-sacrificial path of self-destruction, he'll bring the same Kingdom he lifted up, toppling right over his head"  
  
Roman hung his head, anger deflating just as quickly as it came.  
  
She was right and they both knew it.  
  
He sighed, darting his tongue out slightly to dampen his dried lips before swallowing the little saliva he had in his mouth. It had nothing to do with the lump in his throat nor the slight sting in his eyes, not at all.  
  
"I...My apologies"  
  
The Fae sighed at Princey's mumble. The Royal looked exhausted and more so haunted than she had ever seen him. The past few days were obviously taking its toll on the Tertiary.  
  
With an internal sigh of concession to her own softness, Fairy Godmother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and squeezed gently as she spoke.  
  
"Your Majesty, I know of all your burdens, you've told me about them countless times since the day we first met. I know they are no easy task and I would never fault you for doing them. No one would, but I ask, if not for my sake, then be it our Host's. Master Thomas can only handle so much. All four of you have been putting far more strain on him than he is used to"  
  
"I know. My Secondary and I had spoken of it earlier. We even told Thomas himself but he allowed us to remain outside with him despite the drainage"  
  
The Fae huffed incredulously, "honestly, you're all stubborn, the whole lot of you-"  
  
Roman snorted at that.  
  
"Well, we'd have to get it from somewhere"  
  
"Mhm, yes, a stubborn Host always gives way to equally stubborn personalities"  
  
The Royal chuckled, "I suppose so-"  
  
A timid chirp cut Princey off and both he and the Fairy looked down into Roman's sash. Blue was staring timidly at them.  
  
**It twittered.  
**  
Roman's expression softened.  
  
"No, no, heaven's no. We're fine, no one's shouting-"  
  
**A small chirp.** The blue bird looked smaller than it ever had.  
  
"We're not fighting I promise! She's uh- she's just worried for me-"  
  
**A tweet**. Blue mopely buried itself back into the sash  
  
"What? No?! I'm not-"  
  
**_A sad muffled chirp.  
  
_** "No, wait. Ok let me rephrase that-"  
  
**_A twitter.  
  
_** "Ok, fine, I promise"  
  
**A solid tweet.**  
  
"What do you mean 'say it?' "  
  
**Another tweet.**

 

Roman rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Ok, fine!" He held his right hand up in mock oath. "I promise this is my last meeting and I will end the next one regardless of who it is. There better?"  
**_  
An affirmative chirp.  
_**  
And then, as if nothing even happened, Blue flew happily out of the sash and circled in the air.  
  
The Royal turned to the Fae beside him and deadpanned.  
  
"I just got played"  
  
She chuckled as Blue landed on her shoulder.  
  
"It would seem so my Prince"  
  
Roman's jaw dropped, "you two set me up!"  
  
Blue chirped, schooling its features in to the sad pout it wore in the sash and then bowing a few seconds later at its mock performance.  
  
"Evil little bird", muttered the Prince rolling his eyes. He glanced at Fairy Godmother, "anyone else in on this?"  
  
"Well...” started the Fae, a smirk ever present on her lips. Instead of continuing her explanation, she simply snapped her fingers.  
  
**_SNAP!_**  
  
Roman's eyes widened.  
  
In front of him were his friends, Prince Leo, Prince Dominic and Princess Valerie, along with Advisor Deliah were there smiling at him.  
  
He pouted.  
  
"I hate you all"  
  
The other's laughed.

* * *

 

 

Logan continued with his lesson, making sure that his class was listening.

 

“Now at my core you can easily see the two bands right? Two horizontal navy blue stripes on either side. This is because I'm a secondary personality. My Primary, who also happens to be my prominent counterpart has one single band-"  
  
"Yes Michaela?"  
  
"Aren't primary and prominent the same thing?"  
  
"Actually that is a common misconception, they are in fact not the same thing though there are used interchangeably. See, 'Prominent' is the title given to the personality that has, for lack of a better term, the most sway over their Host's general day-to-day behaviour. Now the 'Primary' is the host's first formed Personality but they can and usually are the Prominent"  
  
Another student raised their hand.  
  
"Yes Aaron"  
  
"My Pop said that sometimes the youngest personality, like um- like Depression can be a Prominent-"  
  
"That is very much a possibility. Your father seems to know a lot about Manifestors, you said he mentioned the war before, is he one?"  
  
"Who Pop? Nah, one of my uncles was though. We don't know where he is, he kinda just disappeared"  
  
"Ah, well, let's get on with the lesson shall we-"  
  
Logan was cut off by the bell.  
  
"We'll just finish up next class then, I'll see most of you tomorrow and the rest throughout the day. Class dismissed"

* * *

  
  
Logic easily retracted his aura and went about his classes. But the further he got into a lesson, the greater the ache present at his temple.  
  
Thankfully his lunch break came quick.  
  
Now at his desk in his 'office', he pressed his index and ring finger against the pained area, only to gasp. His vision swam for a short second and he was inherently glad that he had been sitting down. The dizziness that had suddenly over-took him was puzzling to say the least.  
  
He had decided to skip lunch on the count that he didn't want to throw it up. Maybe he really was getting sick.

* * *

  
  
  
It was almost 2:00pm and the intermission was over but his headache was getting worse. Every sound in the room caused the dull ache to increase and he wanted nothing more than to leave.  
  
"Just one little presentation Roman, you can do that. When it's over you can go home, take a nap and then explain to the others what plans were discussed. Just one little presentation", his self-pep-talk helped only somewhat. Though a presentation shouldn't be too hard right?  
  
_"-ince Roman"_  
  
Shoot, he almost missed his queue.  
  
Standing up, he immediately felt dizzy but he ignored it in an attempt to get to the stage. Unfortunately for him, Geoffrey noticed.  
  
"Are you alright M'lord?"  
  
"I'm fine Geoffrey-", the Prince waved a dismissive hand as he kept moving, hoping the Vassal would drop it.  
  
"Are you certain highness? You look quite pale"  
  
But things were never that easy.  
  
"It's just a headache Geoffrey, nothing to concern yourself with-"  
  
"M'lord!"  
  
Roman rolled his eyes, a bad choice really, the room was already spinning around him.  
  
"I'm fi-"  
  
He had made it onto the stage, but for some reason, he was suddenly out of breath. Before the Royal could even panic, his vision began blurring rapidly and everything all but lurched. In the spinning room now surrounding him, the darkness took him quickly and without a choice.  
  
**_"Prince Roman!"_**

 

* * *

 

He attempted to rest his eyes to ease the pain, but to no avail.  
  
When his phone's alarm rang at 12:50pm, he was almost startled to find tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Hissing softly in pain, he swiped them away before grabbing his lesson plan and heading to math class.  
  
There was an early assembly today so he would only have one English class to teach next instead of two. He could just give them an essay or have them watch a video before dismissing them early. He could then go home and have Morality check if he was truly getting as sick as Anxiety or if it were something else entirely-  
  
"Good afternoon sir!"  
  
Logic jumped.  
  
He locked eyes with Philla, Luíz and Valerie. The latter quirked a brow at him and he couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.  
  
"Uh, yes, good afternoon Philla. My apologies, you seemed to have caught me lost in thought"  
  
"That's ok. Happens to the best of us but um, are you feeling alright sir? You look a little pale-"

  
  
_"You didn't see him, you didn't feel the heat coming off of his skin, he's pale-"_

 _  
"It's Anxiety, he's always pale"_  


Logan blinked out of the memory, Luíz was gone but the girls were watching him pensively. He hadn't answer Philla's question, his mind had travelled to the day he found out Anxiety was sick.  
  
"I'm fine, girls, please sit down, class is about to start. Philla and Valerie gave each other a look before sitting at the front of the class.

* * *

* * *

  
  
The equations he gave for the new topic were simple enough, so the class was relatively quiet as they worked. Logan however winced visibly at every moment the chalk touched the board.  
  
At one point he completely stopped writing to place a hand on his head.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
The Teacher cracked open an eye to see Valerie in front of him.  
  
"I'm fine Val, I've just got a headache-"  
  
"You sure? It looks worse than a headache, you're sweating!"  
  
Logan sighed, he really didn't want to make a big deal out of this.  
  
"I'm fine, now go take your seat "  
  
She gave him a worried glance but sat back down.

* * *

* * *

  
  
The pain felt worse the longer it went on. His hands began to shake but he continued until the piece of chalk slipped from his fingers and broke into pieces  
on the class' dirty tiled floor.

 

He knelt down to pick it up only to find Valerie already in front and helping. Honestly, Thomas' friends were sweet and just as stubborn as he was.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, her eyes held nothing but worry.

While Logan appreciated the sentiment, this was begging to get cumbersome.

"Yes Valerie", he huffed, "for the last time I'm fine, it's just a simple headache"  
Stubbornly Logan reached up to write on the board, the blue clock above him read 2:00pm...then the numbers began blur. Wincing he took a step back and placed a hand to his head. The room began spinning and the last thing he could recall was Valerie screaming his name.

* * *

 

 

Valerie had been watching Logan since she walked into class with her cousin and the new student. His whole aura had felt...off. She couldn't tell what exactly had changed, but it was most definitely different from her 8am class.

He was spacing out more often, wincing and there was a sheen of sweat coving his face. Something was definitely not right. She had tried to see what it was through his entire aura himself, but Logic was somehow locking her out.

  
So she didn’t confront him again, not until the chalk broke into pieces. She held her math books in one hand, for no other reason other than she forgot to put them down when she got out of her seat.

And it was then that she watched:

She watched him, sway.

She watched him look up.

She watched his eyes roll back.

 

**_ “Logan!”  
  
_ **

It was through pure frantic instinct that she had managed to shove her books onto a nearby student's desk to catch Logan when he fell. Granted it was more her lowering the both of them to the ground rather than a catch but at least the Teacher wasn't injured.

Still in panic she reached for her phone from her back pocket and dialled Thomas' number. The other students were crowding around them but she payed little mind to them, far too busy trying to contact the manifestor.

What was terrifying her the most was the fact that the Host himself wasn't picking up. Thomas always picked up, especially after two calls.  
She called five.

* * *

 

 

Since Thomas wasn't answering she called Joan.

But it's Talyn who picks up.

**_"/Hey Val-/"_ **

"Talyn, where's Joan?"

**_"/They're driving, but they're right beside me, why?/"  
  
_ **

"Put me on speaker"

**_"/Um, ok/"  
  
_ **

Valerie could hear a beep from the other side of the line.

**_"/There, you’re on/"  
  
_ **

"Logan collapsed-"

**_"/What?!/"_ **

  
She could hear three different worried voices and she winced. "Yeah, I caught him, but he's completely unconscious. I tried calling Thomas but he's not answering. I called five times"

 ** _"/Maybe his phone is just dead?/"_** suggested the third voice Valerie couldn't make out.

"I highly doubt that, he always has his phone at least powered enough to make a call or to make sure he can get called"

**_"/Shit. Your right Val, don't worry we're heading to his house right now with Leo/"  
  
_ **

"Ok, I'll meet you there Joan, I'm taking Logan with me"

**_  
"/How are you going to-/"_ **

  
"Don't worry about it, just go get Thomas!"

With that Valerie hung up the phone, she had a plan.

 

* * *

 

She tells the students to remain calm and asks three of them to go run and tell the principal what happened.

  
"Luíz", she calls and her cousin comes to her aid instantly. She whispers something in his ear and then hands him her car keys and he was off like a shot.

In a couple of minutes the whole class can hear a car screech to a stop and Luiz is running back to Valerie, car key in hand. He gives it back and Val thanks him but asks once more for help.

  
Luíz nods and grabs Logan's legs, while Valerie grabs his arms. The Latina actress braces herself but not before giving the car keys to Philla and asking her to help open her car. Philla runs out and does so only to find Valerie and Luíz carrying Logan. They manage to place him in the backseat, flat on his back.

  
After they buckle him in, Valerie tells Philla and Luíz to take charge of the class. And without time to listen to the new girl's protest, she jumps in to her car, straps in, starts and drives towards Thomas' house.

* * *

 

On the way, Logan groans, soft pained sounds that made Val wince. If he- _a secondary Personality-_ was in this much pain, she could only guess how much pain Thomas was in. As she drove ever closer to her destination, her stomach filled with dread.

 

* * *

 

**AN:// Hey guys, I'm back~  
  
I had to split this chapter into two so you didn't get it as angsty as I wanted you to but it gives me time to add on to the next chap...heh.  
  
I think this chap was more informative than anything? But it's good. We're getting the world building out of the way, the train's just starting up ;)  
  
Next chap is Joan, Talyn's and Leo's POV and I'll tell you right now, brace your selves. Arc 2 is working up!  
  
_Ok HERE'S THE REAL IMPORTANT NEWS:  
I've made a new fic to keep you guys occupied during Innerworks updates.  
  
It's called "Because I Can"  
  
An AU where Virgil made a deal with a Reaper to save his best friend. As part of the deal he needs to collect an amount of souls for a period of time in order for the reaper to save them.  
  
In comes Roman, a wandering creature of the Light, confused as to why he always sees this 'Shadow' around people that look sad.  
  
When Virgil falls ill to the 'sleep sickness', Roman discovers his secret and decides that it's his duty to follow his mysterious 'Shadow'. Now Virgil has to collect the souls while simultaneously keeping Roman a secret from the Reaper he made the deal with.  
  
Characters: Virgil, Logan, Roman, Patton, Thomas, Remy (Sleep Character), Joan, Talyn, Jamahl, Dominic and Valerie.  
  
Parings: All platonic, though you can think them romantic if you like._  
  
It's already got great art by my amazing friendo @notallpotatoesarefrenchfries on tumblr  
Also check her out on insta: <https://www.instagram.com/notallpotatoesarefrenchfries/>**

**  
To those who were wondering about my absence but didn't get to read the updates...or didn't care. Long story short. I moved from my old apartment becuase family issues. But for now I'm back and here to conduct the angst train on this slow burn to hell ;)  
  
COMMENT OF THE MONTH:  
By: @RandomProjectedTrash  
"Oh just ignore that on the floor. Yes it is my broken heart. No it doesn’t hurt anymore. I'm used to it after all this. Yes, those are tears."  
  
Lol, donate them tears to the train friendo XD  
  
A shout out to all y'all for being patient and keeping me going with your wonderful comments (thank you so much, I read them all to give me motivation). Special shout out to Davidthetraveler, he's an amazing friend you guys. A genuine sweetheart, show him some love.  
  
Anyway.  
  
See y'all in the comments section ;)**

 


	27. Falling

* * *

Ok, first off i'd like to apologize. I took a nap yesterday at like 6 because I wasn't feeling well...I just woke up and it's freaking Thursday and i'm currently  _tripping._ Lmao sorry y'all XD

* * *

 

 " _Nnh_! Come on!" Grunted Fiona, "you're made of coffee, stress and eyeshadow, how are you this heavy?"  
  
The girl huffed, her hair falling in front of her face as she continued to struggle. Call it what you will, fear induced strength or simply pure muscle packed in a tiny body- but after a few minutes she actually managed to lift Anxiety onto his bed.  
  
With her 'older brother' now no longer on the floor, Fiona had absolutely no Idea what to do. Seeing the Emo lying completely limp-and as sprawled out as she had flopped him- was rather terrifying. Tentatively she placed a hand on his forehead...no fever.  
  
Not a hint of warmth.  
  
_No warmth-  
  
_ Something clicked in her head.  
**  
_He was cold._** _  
_  
****__His skin was cold.  
  
Biting her lip, she did what anyone else would have done. She turned tail and ran down the stairs screaming for her father's help.

 

* * *

 

 

"Dad! Dad! Come one, wake up!"  
  
Liam and the other three boys panicked. Morality's son had absolutely no idea what was going on. One moment he and Patton were cleaning the kitchen together and then next, the Parental was falling.  
  
Biting his lip, the boy, once again, did his best to shake his father awake-  
  
"DAD!"  
  
That was Fiona, her thundering footsteps were rapidly pounding down the stairs.  
  
"Dad! Anxiety fell, and he...Dad?" The girl stopped at the bottom of the last step. Face pale and terrified as she saw the boys, her brother and her unconscious father in the kitchen.  
  
Liam looked up at her with tear laden eyes and shook his head. "He won't wake up, I tried...I don't-I don't know why. We were trying to get to you, we heard you scream but then...he just... ** _fell_** "  
  
Fiona, who was honestly about to cry herself, ran forward to embrace her brother in a hug. Steven, Pranks and Compliment, joined in aswell. The three had remained quiet the whole time, absolutely shell-shocked at the sight of their prone father figure.  
  
But it was Misleading Compliment who broke his silence with a small whisper.  
  
"What's going to happen to them?"

 

* * *

 

The tension and worry in the car was palpable.  
  
No one dared to say anything as Joan continued to drive forward. Their forms were practically exuding their worry like high waves crashing on a shore.  
  
It wasn't long until Talyn cracked under the pressure. A distressed noise escaped their lips, despite the fact that the shorter Veiwer had pressed a hand to their mouth.  
  
Another small whimper.  
  
"Talyn? You ok?" While it was obvious that their Date-mate was definitely not ok, there was very little comfort Joan could offer if they didn't know what was going inside their partner's head. "Tell me what you’re thinking over there"  
  
A third whimper answered as Talyn curled up on their seat. Their chin now on their knees and their hands over their ears as if trying to block cold reality from whispering into them.  
  
Joan bit their lip at the sight. As much as they wanted to help, they had to keep their eyes on the road. It would do no good if they were to get in an accident, especially when Thomas could possibly be hurt.

 

* * *

 

In the Mindscape everything suddenly began to shake-the walls, the floors, the ceilings even- and then, in the midst of what seems like an earthquake, it all goes black for a second.  
  
The kids screamed, grouping up together the best they possibly can in the pitch darkness. They couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces but they somehow manage to grab onto each other-

  
  
**After what was a few seconds, but felt like a small eternity, the lights came back on.**  
  
  


The sudden appearance of light was not relieving as it should have been. It was bright at first, too bright and then all of a sudden it got dim, very dim, enough so to leave the entire room cascaded in an eerie grey. It was like an old backup generator in a black out, complete with its own brand of noise...a dead silence that left a near deafening echo in their ears.  
  
They all look at each other, and suddenly everything made sense. The oldest and the youngest personalities falling, the earthquake and the blackout, it all could have only meant one thing.

**_ Something bad had happened to their host.  
_ **

"Thomas!"

 

* * *

 

  
"What if he _asell fleep_ "

"What?" Joan frowned, they didn't quite catch what their Date-mate had said.

" _Asell_ _fleep_ , he could be-"

"Tal, your Temp is messing with you again, your words are jumbled, can you repeat that?"  
  
Talyn huffed, honestly they could hate their Temp at times. It would always act up when they were nervous or worried and it made explaining things far more troublesome than necessary.  
  
" _Asel_... _alsel_... ** _asleep_**!- God finally, I was trying to say, 'what if he _asell_ _fleep'_ - **** _oh for fuck sake!"_  
  
  


"You mean if he fell asleep? I mean it’s possible, those pills of his kinda put him out of it-"

Leo peeked curiously from the back. "If he was taking those pills he could be out cold. The first time he took 'em he was half asleep in an hour and his mom had to drive him home.

The three were silent now, a hopeful glimmer had snuck its way through the tense air.  
  
  
But only for a moment...  
  
  
The thought floats in on a whisper, quiet, sneaky and all consuming, yet Talyn is the only one who heard it. When it sunk its way into their head, it was as if cold water had been splashed on them, soaking through the bone leaving nothing but ice crawling through their veins.  
  
Joan noticed it first, then again, it was hard not to see the person beside you suddenly stiffen and go pale.  
  
"What's wrong? You're shaking"

  
  
**_"What if he fell?"_**  
  
"What?"

"Those pills make him drowsy, what if he fell down the stairs. **Joan**. _What if he fell?!"_

They swallow.  
  
"It's possible but let's not jump the gun-"

  
"Thomas always has his phone, if he's asleep that's fine but if he fell, he might need medical attention and we can't really afford to take that risk"

  
"This is as fast as I can legally go Talyn, I speed up were gonna get arrested, how are we gonna help Thomas then?"

"I don't know, has Valerie reached close enough yet?"

"She hasn't texted, I'll call her"  
  
True to their word Talyn quickly whips out their phone and calls Valerie, who unlike Thomas, answered on the first ring.  
  
"Val, have you reached his house yet?"

**_"/No I'm stuck in traffic but I'm worried, I feel like I'm not moving fast enough and Logan's form is wavering/"  
_ **

"What do you mean?"  
****_  
  
_

_"/Like he's um...ay como se decie, blinking? No, um flickering? His form it's flickering and he's burning up/"_  
  
  


"Fuck! Ok try to get to Thomas as quick as you can. Is Logan see through? Or is it just his aura that's flickering?"

**_"/No he actually is flickering, he's almost see through but he's not there yet/"_ **

  
The worry in her voice cause the three in Joan's car to wince. It's heavily accented, something that only happens to Val when she's undeniably stressed out, not that anyone can blame her.

 

 

As the Latina laments her untimely traffic situation, the date-mates share a look. It's tight, it's strained, it's worried and utterly vulnerable. ****_Neither of them can stand it._  
  
With a shaky breath, Talyn diverts their eyes and focuses on calming Valerie until she can hang up. Hopefully she can manage to keep Logan's form-actually Logan himself- from fading away into nothing.  
  
Joan, on the other hand, floors it, stepping hard on the pedal, causing all three of the vehicle's inhabitants to lurch forward as the car screeches at the sudden acceleration.

  
  
"So that's both Anxiety and Logic down", mumbles Leo frowning. He had a theory for the most part but something didn't add up and it worried him or more accurately, he had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. "If Thomas is conscious then he's out his entire left half"  
  
"Yeah, which leaves Morality and Princey  running around in there-"  
  
"That's the thing Joan, I don't think he's conscious"  
  
  
"How would you know?"  
  
  
"I don't but I have a hunch-"  
  
  
"I'm with Leo Joan, I'm thinking Dad would have had Thomas call us the moment something went wrong, we know that he would-unless he's down too"

  
"But wait", pipes Leo again, "if Thomas is a host, wouldn't him going down mean they all go down?"

Talyn's eyes widen, their hands unconsciously rise up to grip their multi-coloured hair, "Oh God!"

Joan bites their lip, something nasty sets in the pit of their stomach, "let's hope your wrong guys"

 

* * *

  
  
Fiona gaps as all the pieces start clicking together. Something _happened_ to Thomas, Dad is down, Anxiety is down, and she was willing to bet that Princey and Logic might be aswell.  
  
Taking a breath to quell her rising nerves, she stands up and takes charge.  
  
"Steven go get some comforters and blankets, we'll pile them on the floor, like the pillow fort we built", the boy in the star shirt doesn't question it and moves quickly to gather the quilts.  
  
So Fiona then turns to the other two "Pranks and Compliment I need you guys to get Anxiety and carefully-carefully, bring him downstairs.  
  
Steven comes back the moment the two went up. He finds a decent spot and begins to spread out and lay the comforters and quilts down.  
  
Nodding at Stevens work, Fiona gestures to Liam and they carefully pick up their Father, albeit with a bit of a struggle, and placed him gently on the comforter.  
  
The other two call for help, to which Steven rushes forward. Not a beat passes when all three boys come back carrying Anxiety down the stairs. Slowly then bring him to the living room and place him next to the Prominent.  
  
With that done and everyone now together, Fiona tells them her plan.  
They all agree that Pranks and Misleading compliment were to stay with the eldest and youngest personalities while they still unconscious. Meanwhile Steven and the Vine siblings would head to the Kingdom in search of Roman.  
  
They had hoped that the Prince would remain standing and would be able to help them fix whatever was happening, either with their Host or the two who were out cold.

 

* * *

  
  
Once at Roman's door, the three stand together, bracing to enter the Kingdom. Depending on where Roman was, they'd either be directly inside the Castle or somewhere in front of the walls itself.  
  
With a turn of the handle and a step forward, the three thankfully found themselves within the castle, as a matter of fact they were right in the hallway.  
  
They took a moment to look at each other, their clothes had changed to that of Royalty. Steven was taller, while as Fiona and Liam's appearance were older. Now teens instead of children, _their true forms were starting to show.  
_  
Shaking their heads, they ran forward, they didn't have time to dwell on why their forms were reverting. They needed to find Roman.  
  
The conference room is the first room they checked, the Prince did say he was going to a meeting after all.  
  
The moment Fiona pushed open the doors, those inside startled and gasped.  
Quickly, the high class inhabitants, scrambled to bow, the only ones who didn’t even bother to do so were Geoffrey, Fairy Godmother and the Crowned Royals. As a matter of fat, they didn’t even turn around, instead they were huddled up together in a way that made the- _once children_ -teens’ hearts sink with dread.

 

Wasting no time the three rushed forward, only to hear those bowing speak and whisper- rather loudly- amongst each other.

  
_"The ancillaries!"_  
  
"There here!"  
  
"Where's the Prominent?"  
  
"Are they hear for the Prince?"  
  


__  
The murmurs continue to ring out and the three try their best to ignore them but there was an unsettling feeling bubbling in their guts already.  
  
They reached the group, only to watch it part and be met with an unconscious Roman. The Prince was just as cold and pale as the other two, if not more. Truly Fiona could only hope that it was his white tunic that was clashing with his skin.

 

There was no way the Royal would forgo moisturizer and let himself become this frigid, ashen, mess. Right?

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Thomas! Thomas! Come on, answer your damn phone!"

"Joan, you shouldn't be on the phone when you're driving"

  
"Well excuse me Leo, for wanting to make sure my best friend is still alive!"

The panic had finally gotten to Joan, so much so that they had started making risky moves while still hitting the gas.

**A siren whoops behind them and everyone tenses.**

A police officer on a motorcycle appears on Joan's side, load speaker in hand.  
  
"I'm going to need you to pull over kid"

Joan bites their lip and shakes their head, they can't afford to stop, their gut tells them that nothing good will happen if they do; they've always been one to listen to their gut.  
  
"Trust me I would if I could-"

"And why can't you? You are aware that you are breaking the law by not pulling over?"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I can't stop sir, it's an emergency"

"Pull over!"

  
"I can't, it's an emergency!"

  
  
The cop had lost his patience but Joan's gut tells them their running out of time. Taking a breath, the beanie lover floors it once more, bobbing and weaving through the cars ahead as if it were a mere racing game. Then again, majority of the traffic disperses due to the siren. The police officer, to his credit, keeps up, officially instigating a chase.  
  
One that lasts all the way to Thomas' house.  
  
When they reach the house, Joan stops the car and quickly begins to talk to the officer, allowing Talyn and Leo rush in the house.  
  
The police officer, Officer Anderson, as far as Joan can read on his badge, wasted no time in coming up and yelling at them. A bruising finger pointing and jabbing at their chest as he spoke.

"Kid, do you have any Goddamn clue how much trouble you're in for that litter stunt you pulled there?! You could have gotten yourself and so many innocent civilians killed for driving at that speed!"

"Yes-yes, sir, I know but I had to-"

  
  
"And why in bloody hell would you have need to-"

  
  
Talyn's scream echoes through the neighbourhood, cutting the cop off and sending a bolt of fear through Joan.  
  
Without a thought the beanie lover dashes towards the shorter Veiwer inside. Officer Anderson came following right behind.  
  
"Good Lord!" Was all he could gasp out.  
  
There, at the bottom of the stairs they found Thomas' body, pale, splayed out and prone. A pure red halo, ever extending, formed around his head as he laid limply and near lifeless.  
  
The only assurance that he was even among the living, were the shallow-barely there- rise and fall of his chest. Each breath seemed like his last.

 

 

* * *

 

It's not even a minute after that Valerie finally makes it to the house.  
  
Officer Anderson had already called for an ambulance but everyone had remained standing at the door, far too fearful of injuring Thomas further just plain frozen in shock at his state.

The Actress takes one glance at her prone friend and almost chokes. Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a breath, she instructs Talyn to distract the Officer while she gets Leo and Joan to sneak the unconscious Logan from the back of her car.

It's awkward but quick and effective as Talyn puts their Temp into play and confuses the Cop with their jumbled words, leaving the man disoriented enough for the other's to get Logan inside.

They place him near Thomas head, mournfully grateful that the Manifestor's head was where Logan normally stands.

The moment they put him near his host, Logan disappeared.

 

* * *

  
The Teacher vanishing from in front of their eyes startled both Leo and Joan but a quick aura scan from Valerie informed them that all of Thomas' personalities are where they should be; but all of them are no doubt as unconscious as their host.  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
The three in the house turn around to see Dominic.

  
  
"What happened?! Is he ok?! Did you guys call an ambulance-?!"

  
"Hey! Chill out! Rasps Joan as they grip at Dominic's shoulders, "You’re scaring the rest of us. We already called the ambulance, it's coming soon. We think he fell down the stairs, probably after taking his pills but the bigger question is what are you doing here?"  
  
Dominic blinks for a second taken aback, he was Thomas' friend of course he was gonna be there. Though it took another second for him to realize that Joan meant, _'why was he there?'_  
  
"I was driving pass when I saw the Cop cycle, I wanted to know if something was wrong- but I guess... I was right"  
  
Joan lets go of him, but not before giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  
  
  
The ambulance soon reaches, Paramedics piling out, gurney in hand.  
  
Talyn and Officer Anderson slip by the group where the Police officer explains that he'll let Joan and the others go with no charge since it was an emergency. He then leaves with a rev of his cycle, heading down the street with no further word.  
  
They all simultaneously glanced at Talyn, who gave them a small smile that clearly said, 'I'll explain it later'.  
  
When the Paramedic asks who will go with Thomas, Joan jumps in the back without a second thought.  
  
Talyn decides to follow, driving behind in Joan's car.  
  
Dominic takes one for the team and goes to inform Thomas' parents, of all Thomas' friends, he knew them the longest after all.  
  
Thus leaving Leo and Val, who volunteered to clean up the blood.

* * *

  
  
It was all so fast, that it all seemed like a loud blur of white noise. But when everything went quite, the extent of the situation finally caught up to them. Valerie bit back a sob, opting instead to find the cleaning items.  
  
If Leo was paying attention to her, he would have seen the silent tears streaming down her face.  
  
But he didn't.  
  
Instead he stared blankly at the spot in front of him. Watching in almost macabre fascination as his best friend's blood seeped within the tile, staining it a haunting red.

 

* * *

**A//: Sup y'all, I'm back...for a bit lol. sorry for the long wait and the non-chapter updates. I really hated those but i had to inform you guys why you weren't getting your updates. I'ts only fair to keep you in the loop after all.**

**Welp, this chap is finally up, though two scenes where actually taken out. Valerie's point of view and Dominic's. So it kinda looks like they just popped up outta thin air? Kinda? but not really? i'm working on branching out my writing style. i'm quite fond of description which is fine, but I feel that if I constantly explain via everyone's perspective, the story will get cumbersome. I don't really like it as it feels a little bit lazy? but i'll work around this by the next chapter. this way you'll end up with an adequate balance of description and story flow.**

**Anyway, there is no comment of the week/month this time. simply cause its 2:27am right now as i'm barely attempting to edit the AN lol**

 

**HOWEVER, I won't leave you guys bored. so let's play a game!**

 

**IF you missed it. I said _Yesterday,_ that you guys should go back and re-read the last two chapters as there are 15 clues in each about where this story is going. There are also 15 in this chap too! Now what i want All the Members of the Angst Train to do is copy and past in the comments what you think is a clue and i'll tell you if it is and  what number it is. If y'all can get the full 15 for at least one chapter i'll either reveal something or i'll write in a requested scene that you guys can vote for.**

**So tldr; find the clues and i'll either reveal something or write a requested scene for you guys.**

 

**Look in every nook and cranny of the train for those clues, its like a treasure hunt XD**

**HAPPY HUNTING!**

**See Y'all in the comment section ;)**


	28. Chap Update: Sept 22nd and Q&A today

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter, srry but some info down below!

Hey y'all, I know it's been a while but boy do I have a long and funny story to tell guys.  
  
BUUUT I'll save it for the AN'S of the next chapter.  
  
'cause guess what? I'm updating on My Birthday! Sept 22nd  (oh my god I'm going to be 20, I'm not ready someone save me)  
  
I'm going traveling with my friends during that time, so I'll be showing them your comments as they take me on a tour in parts of Mexico (it's going to be fun, I rarely ever leave my country but I'm going over the border for 3 days just with my friends, I'm super excited!)  
  
Just a fair warning, because I've been gone for so long (2 mths is alot lol) I want you guys to realize that the plot's gotten even more angsty and complex. We have actually reached  point where I can choose whether a certain main character dies and the entire story can and will still proceed without a problem. {Innerworks may have gotten a bit longer than I had originally intended whoops {°_•})  
  
Like I mentioned I'm hanging out with my friends and we're half- half about whether I should spare or kill someone, so y'all are gonna have to vote. Heh ;)  
  
I'd like to ask (yeah to that one specific person, you know who you are) NOW I'M ASKING FOR COMMENTS. (See I'm not begging, I'm asking, I live of angst and spite sweetie, don't start)  
  
Remember to leave your comments you guys, it means a lot and it helps me know thing like: if I'm improving on my writting, made a mistake, accidentally misgendered someone or that y'all really like the chapter....or if y'all hate me for hurting a certain someone  ;) lol  
  
So please let me hear you!!  
Hell you can tell me about your day even, it's been so long since I've heard from you guys and I wanna chat with some peeps.  
  
Now would be the perfect time to ask questions ;)

\------

EDIT:

so it's currently midnight and I've just been told that the trip, the one me and my friends have been planning for so long, is now cancelled.

End of story.

And I can't do anything about it.

My friends can go, sure, but I can't  and it fucking sucks. So yeah. I guess I'll just spend my B-day alone. I'm so fucking pissed rn I'm actually crying. I hate this so much, y'all have no idea.

Anyway, since our plans to go to Chetumal (a very small area in Mexico) are now crumbled into dust. Idk what to do?? Like traveling is just no longer an option?? so?? Like the fuck am I gonna do now??

Life.

It sucks.

 


End file.
